by Brenda Drake
“Where’s your shirt?” she finally got her voice back.
“Just getting a fresh one.” He tugged a white T-shirt over his head.
“Oh.”
He pulled a pair of pajama bottoms from a drawer and turned. “I don’t want to bother you later when I go to bed. Bunică left towels for you in the bathroom,” he said, passing her on his way to the door. “Set your alarm for nine. That should give us plenty of time to make our train.”
“Okay,” she said with a yawn.
He crossed over to the window and lowered the blinds. The sun was still up. It wasn’t even five yet.
Propped in the corner of the room was an instrument case. On the top shelf of the bookcase beside it were trophies, some with musical notes and some with miniature violas on them, along with glass plaques.
“Wow, that’s some serious decorations,” she said.
He lowered his head. She didn’t know that expression, either. Was he embarrassed?
“This one’s my mom’s.” He plucked a crystal plaque off the shelf. “The others are mine. From the States. Promised her I’d keep playing. The viola is hers…was. Was hers.”
“I’d love to hear you play.”
He shot her a puzzled look. “What? Now?”
She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, why not?”
“Thought you were tired.” He placed the plaque back in its place on the shelf.
“Not too tired to listen to you play a song.”
A handful of seconds went by before he picked up the case. “All right. Just don’t expect too much.”
She glanced back at the displayed trophies as he removed the viola from the case. His name was etched on all of them but that one plaque of his mom’s, and most were for first place.
“Sure,” she said and sat on the bed. “I won’t.”
He lifted a smile at her, tucking the viola under his chin. His hold gentle on the neck, fingers pressed down on the strings, he dragged the bow across them, producing a dark, deep, velvety sound.
Arm muscles tensing and relaxing as he played, dark lashes forming crescent moons under his closed eyes, he swayed to the music he was creating. The delicate melody drew her to him, connected them, soothed her. He breathed out, she breathed in.
She was lost. Lost for a few minutes with the beautiful melody surrounding her. Lost from all her fears, hoping they’d never find her again.
But it couldn’t last forever.
He finished. His eyes opened. He lowered the bow and removed the viola from under his chin.
It took a sec for her to snap out of her trance. “Oh wow, that was amazing. You’re so good. What was that?”
“Bach.” He didn’t look at her while he put the viola away. “Suite number three in C major.”
She pushed off the bed and wobbled a little on her feet. “You should join an orchestra or something.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “I have. At NYU.”
“Oh.” She glanced around not knowing what else to say. “Well, you’re better than good. I should’ve used a better word. Like, tremendous or fantastic.”
Stop rambling. Can you even function like a normal person?
“Thanks. I should go.” Another lazy smile played on his lips. “Give you some privacy. Well, good night.”
He’s just going to leave? Just like that?
“Okay, night.”
He shut the door and she stared at it, listening to his footsteps fade down the hall. When she finally pulled herself away, she grabbed her stuff out of her suitcase and crept to the bathroom. She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to be quiet. Maybe because the apartment was eerily silent.
The image of Andrei with his viola kept playing in her head. Was it her or was the apartment hot?
They probably don’t have air-conditioning. That’s it.
Daisy finished in the bathroom and crawled under the comforter. The room was blue and beige with hardly anything on the walls. Just one framed artwork of a cityscape. Probably something Bunică had added. It was more a guest room than a guy’s. Even the hamper was neat in the corner by the closet. No spilled clothes. She rolled over and closed her eyes, and it suddenly occurred to her that she was in his bed.
If I didn’t have jet lag, I’d never sleep.
The twisted, tangled knots in her stomach over starting their trek across Europe tomorrow should’ve kept her up, too. But not even the fear of her mom’s wrath or Andrei playing the viola continually in her mind could stop her from dozing off.
Chapter Four
Andrei
Bunică stirred her coffee with such force the spoon clanked against the cup with each turn. Andrei worried she’d wake Daisy.
“I do not understand why you must help her,” Bunică’s whisper came out more like a hiss, disappointment heavy on her face.
The coffee was so thick it stuck to the side of his mug. He reluctantly took a sip anyway. He never liked disappointing his grandmother. “Auntie Miri said it was safe. Daisy has a way to control it.”
Even though Miri told him that, he still freaked every time she got near him.
Bunică frowned before taking a sip from her cup. “Mistakes can happen. You mustn’t get close. No touching. And why you won’t wear your gloves around her?”
Andrei reached over the table and placed his hand on top of hers. “Wearing gloves in the summertime? That’s not at all suspicious. Come on, don’t worry. I’ll be careful. Promise.”
She picked up her mug and went into the kitchen, mumbling her protests in Romanian. He only caught a few words. His mother hadn’t taught him his homeland’s language. It was something he regretted. “You don’t need to be a hero,” she said, coming back to the table, the freshly poured coffee steaming in her mug.
Andrei stood. “I should wake her. We have to get going.”
“You pack a jacket?” She slowly sipped her coffee, then looked up at him. “Summer nights can get cold.”
“Yes.” He went over and kissed her cheek. “For every worry, a strand of hair turns gray.” It was her words that he used on her.
She smiled then. “Every single one in my head was caused by you, frumosule.”
Handsome. She always called him that. Without her, he’d be lost. Going to school in New York worried him. How would she do alone? Sure, she had cousins, but they were busy with their families. Her two closest friends were getting old like her.
“I’ll pack you a snack for later.” She lightly squeezed his arm as if to say she’d be fine and he should go.
“Thank you,” he said and padded across the area carpet, his bare feet slapping onto the tiles and down the hall.
He waited outside his bedroom door. How dangerous was she? One touch of a tarot card and a person’s destiny would change. For better or for worse. He had thought his aunt Miri had lost her mind when she told him about Daisy. Not until she sent him a video of his new friend in action did he believe her.
But she needed some insulator to prevent her from receiving bad fates, and Aunt Miri worried Daisy could make a mistake. Forget to use it. Pass a curse to him.
His grandmother didn’t want him to help Daisy. She had taken him to her oldest cousin, Lavinia. It was Lavinia’s sons, Ramon and Bart, who first friended Andrei when he came to Amsterdam. In the basement of Lavinia’s house, they had an archive of records on fate changers. Old grainy movies from the early 1900s showed many at carnivals around Europe changing fates. He couldn’t deny they existed.
The most disturbing evidence was the century-old photographs of dead fate changers. A group of religious fanatics had hunted and murdered them. Some of the dead fate changers were young girls. His stomach rolled as he remembered the sight of their lifeless bodies. He knocked on the door.
Aunt Miri told him Daisy would get sick each time she changed a fate. She was connected to the final heir somehow. If they didn’t find the guy, she’d die with him.
His rolling stomach sank at that thought. Daisy could die. And that scared
the shit out of him. He’d do anything to save her. That’s why no one could talk him out of going with her on this trip.
Daisy was special. She was the reason he’d avoided getting into relationships. He had some stupid fantasy that they’d become more than friends. Well, that was with the Daisy he’d gotten to know over the years anyway. But this version of her, the shy, almost rude at times girl, wasn’t the same one he’d fallen for through her social media posts. But she was warming up to him. He felt something in his room while playing the viola for her. Like she admired him. There was definitely some sort of connection between them.
Whatever it was, he liked it.
There wasn’t any sound of movement from the other side of the door.
He knocked louder.
His aunt asked him to look after her, and there was no way he’d let Daisy face whatever was at the end of this trip alone.
He heard Daisy fumble with the knob before opening the door.
“Huh?” she said groggily. Her hair was a mess, her eyes half closed. “What’s up?” She covered her yawn with dainty fingers.
“Time to get up. We’ll miss our train.” Andrei chuckled. “You want coffee? I must warn you, though, mud is thinner.”
“Mud? You drink mud?”
He laughed loud this time. “You are so out of it. The coffee is strong.”
“The stronger, the better. How long have I been asleep?”
“Forever,” he said. “Guess you forgot to set your alarm. It’s morning.”
Her eyes popped open, and she felt her hair. “Oh,” she said, stepping behind the door.
“Take a shower,” he said. “Pack only what you need and what can fit in your backpack.”
“Okay.” She peeked around the door. “Wait. I can’t just go with a backpack.”
“We need to travel light,” he said, glancing at his watch. “It’s just about eleven. We should have enough time to eat and get to the train station.”
“Nice watch,” she said. “It looks expensive.”
“It’s vintage. Was my grandfather’s.” He eyed her. “You’re trying to butter me up, aren’t you?”
She looked away. “No.”
He snickered. “Yes, you were. Only the pack. We don’t want to lug that suitcase around Europe.”
“Ugh.” She shut the door on him.
“We leave on the hour,” he hollered.
“Ugh,” she grunted again.
She was ten minutes late getting ready, so they had to sprint-walk to the tram. She took the seat beside him.
“We didn’t even go over the plan,” Daisy said, leaning over and unzipping her pack. When she started to take out a notebook, he stopped her.
“Not now,” he said. “This is a short ride. We’ll go over it on the train.”
With a sigh, she shoved the notebook back into the pack. “I didn’t even get to eat. I’m starving.”
He held up the sack Bunică had given him. “Food. We’ll eat on—”
“The train,” she cut him off. “Great.”
At Amsterdam Centraal Station, Daisy purchased two global youth passes with some of the money she’d been saving.
She rocked from side to side as she stood on the platform waiting for the train. Her pack shifted on her back with each movement. By the way she was nibbling on her lip, he could tell she was anxious.
A man about five meters up from them on the platform caught Andrei’s eyes. He’d seen the guy outside Bunică’s apartment. Andrei wouldn’t have given him another thought if he hadn’t been staring then and watching them now. He raised his phone acting as if he were searching the internet or texting, then snapped a pic.
Daisy was too busy texting her sister on her phone to notice what Andrei was up to.
Andrei forwarded the pic to Miri with a message attached: know this man?
He’s a member of a group called The Thorn, Miri texted. Zoom in on his ring. It’s a crown of thorns. It shows his affiliation with the group. The Thorn is a religious club going back centuries. Some of its members are responsible for the deaths of many fate changers. I can’t imagine how he found you.
He recognized the ring and it felt like every organ inside him collapsed. His fingers shook as he sent a reply. He stared at the tan line where his ring used to be. A ring his cousins gave him.
ramon and bart have the same ring
Miri sent a response.
Some of our family are still members.
still members?
Yes. The group goes back centuries. Just a small faction within it hunted fate changers. Not us.
you belong?
No.
this man he’s after daisy???
Yes.
what do we do
Continue as if nothing is wrong. I will take care of it. He’ll be off that train before it leaves the station. You must change your itinerary. I’ll have your grandmother send you a new one.
daisy will hate that—she doesn’t like to change her plans
I’m sure you’ll figure it out.
“Shit.” He clicked off his screen.
Daisy’s head snapped in his direction. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just forgot something.”
His thoughts were on that rainy night he was out with his cousins and they pestered him. Oh, join our group. It’s nothing big. Kind of like a fraternity. It’ll be a rollicking time.
Right. It was more like one for a bunch of delinquents.
Their group didn’t have a name. Well, they didn’t tell him it anyway. He’d quit when it stopped being fun. When they started vandalizing and thieving.
I’m going to kill them.
Ramon and Bart had been his friends. Never had Andrei suspected they were rooted in the beliefs of The Thorn. Or that they would murder anyone.
The gray, blue, and yellow train coasted up to the platform. A group of loud guys crowded them as they went up the steps into the train. He took her arm, guiding her to the side to let the guys pass them in a single file.
The Thorn man got in the next car up from theirs.
Daisy glanced at his hand encircling her wrist, and he could have sworn he felt her pulse jump. He let her go.
“This way,” he said, nodding his head in the opposite direction from where the man went.
He removed his pack and sat at a table, picking the chair that faced the door to the car the man was in. Daisy dropped her bag on an empty seat and plopped down on one directly across from him. She peered out the window, watching the line of people load onto the train, worry shadowing her face.
The ability to save people was a lot to handle at her age. Her need to help everyone and the drive to stop that damn curse was a shitty bonus.
On the outside, she looked fragile. Like if you touched her, she’d crumble and float away. But that’d be misjudging her. She was strong. Determined. Terrible at remembering the names of songs, though. Brilliant when it came to reciting quotes from her favorite books.
Daisy caught his look, and he smiled.
Her brows knitted. “What?”
“You seem a mile away,” he said. “And we haven’t even moved.”
The train shook, jerked forward, and slowly rocked down the tracks. He glanced around to see if he could spot the guy trailing them.
It’ll be okay. Even if he’s still on the train, he won’t risk doing something in front of all these people.
A family sat across the aisle from them. The little girl was bald with dark circles around her eyes. She took out two coloring books and a tin box from a green tote bag with a bright sun on it. Her brother, a few years younger, Andrei guessed, opened the box with chubby fingers.
How’s Miri going to get that man off the train? He doubted she could do it.
Daisy pushed her bracelets aside and scratched her wrist. Her eyes on the girl were stormy, the corner of her lips slightly turned down, so slight that someone farther away wouldn’t notice. He wondered what she was thinking.
The tr
ain stopped.
Andrei pressed his forehead against the window, straining to see the entrance into the car ahead of theirs. Several men and women, some wearing police uniforms, rushed through the same entrance the man had used.
Daisy scooted up to the window. “What’s going on?”
The man with The Thorn ring, surrounded by the uniformed officers, was quickly ushered out of the car.
“Oh my gosh, I wonder what that’s about?”
Andrei shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe he got on without a ticket.”
She frowned at him. “Right. They need all those uniforms for that.”
The other passengers caught on that something was going down outside. Bodies pressed against the glass, voices murmuring in concerned tones, Andrei adjusted uneasily in his seat.
What did Miri do?
He didn’t have to ponder that long. Miri’s text chimed at the same moment the train conductor entered the car. Concerned passengers instantly rushed the poor man, pelting him with questions.
He read her message. Issue solved.
“Excuse me,” Daisy said, stopping a man heading back to his seat. “Do you know what happened?”
He gave her a puzzled look. “Ich spreche kein Englisch.”
The woman from across the aisle, with the two kids, stretched over her armrest in Daisy’s direction. “They got an anonymous tip. That man had a gun on the train.”
“Thanks,” Daisy said.
With a tight smile, the woman straightened in her seat.
Daisy’s gaze went to him. “Wow, that’s a little scary.”
“Well, at least they got the guy.” Andrei clicked the side button on his phone, darkening the screen.
“Yeah, I guess.” She continued watching the platform outside.
The train eased away from the platform again before speeding over the tracks.
How did that man know what train Daisy and he were taking? Who else was searching for Daisy? He’d have to be more careful. Be more aware of their surroundings.
“You hungry?” Andrei asked.
She pulled her gaze away from the window. “Yes. I’m starving.”
Andrei removed the food Bunică had packed for them. He unwrapped a roll with slices of cheese and ham in the middle and placed it in front of Daisy. The overstuffed sandwich was a challenge, but she succeeded in getting a bite.