by Allison West
"Will they bother us?" Arianna asked.
Orla shrugged. "Let's hope not."
"Hopefully, Eilith doesn't know it exists," Willow said. She wasn't feeling too confident. "How do we find the entrance to the river?" Willow asked.
"Follow me," Orla said as she gestured toward the right. She skirted the edge of the decimated forest, winding around the city before treading downhill. Her feet landed with a splash, the river barely visible to the naked eye as it was covered in leaves and bark. The air was cleaner, making it easier to breathe.
"Incredible," Rawlie said. He stepped down into the river, offering a hand to Willow and then to Arianna.
Hudson stepped in last, trudging through wetness as he followed the pack.
Lil stepped out of the cab, her eyes taking in the sights and sounds. She'd spent two months on the computer trying to learn Italian. All she knew were the simple words: boy, girl, swim, hello, and goodbye. She doubted it would be helpful.
Her sister stood beside her as the driver opened the trunk, removing their bags.
"Wow," Jamey whispered in awe. "Do you think Aunt Rosa will let us tour the city?"
"Probably not alone," Lil sighed. The last time she'd seen her aunt, she wasn't a day over four-years-old. Why had her mother suggested the three of them to travel overseas? She knew the plans, at least for the two sisters, had been made nearly a year ago, before the unexpected journey to Orenda.
Lil glanced at a boy zipping by on his shiny red scooter. He leaned a little too much for her comfort, half-wondering if he'd fall onto the pavement. She felt her stomach drop waiting for the moment of impact, but it never came. Lil held her breath and bit down on her bottom lip. He cut close to the curb, stopping just a few inches from her feet. The boy parked the bike just outside of the turquoise door to Aunt Rosa's house.
"Ciao," he said and smiled at Lil.
Two months of Italian, and she stumbled with a response. She smiled and waved, uttering quietly under her breath in an awful accent her response, "Ciao."
Jamie laughed. "I think Lil has a crush."
"Both of you?" Lil asked, shocked. Jamey, her sister, always teased her, but apparently, she was rubbing off on the young boy staying with them. They'd become best friends over the summer, practically inseparable.
"I'm Marco," he said, introducing himself.
Lil looked the boy over. He had noticed her accent, or maybe it was the terrible way she had said 'ciao'. He was tall, close to six feet, and muscular. He couldn't have been much older than Lil, but he probably had a year or two on her. His eyes were dark like chocolate and she finally found her voice. "I'm Lil Porter." She held out her hand.
"You're Rosa's niece."
"I guess I am." Lil was surprised he knew who she was. "And you are?" She knew absolutely nothing about Marco, except his name.
"Lucky." He smiled charmingly. "We're next door neighbors."
"Great." The enthusiasm disappeared from Lil's tone. She dug into her pocket, handing the driver a wad of bills to cover the fare. He graciously took it and sped off in the direction that he had come, a cloud of smoke surrounding them.
"Do you know how much you just tipped him?" Marco laughed, shaking his head. "You just paid the guy enough to feed his family for a week."
Lil glanced down at the remaining bills in her hand. She was terrible when it came to an exchange rate and knew that tipping was customary back home. Wasn't it the same in Italy? Lil grimaced and then shrugged. "It's my parent's money anyhow." Hopefully, if she needed more, her mom would send her some additional funds.
Lil lifted her black and pink flowered suitcase up the step and knocked on the teal door to the villa.
"I think someone has a crush on Lil," Jamey said under her breath to the ten-year-old boy beside her.
"Hudson is going to be jealous," he said.
Lil spun around on her heels, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. "Why would you say that?" she asked. They were just friends, weren't they? A strange knot formed in the pit of Lil's stomach. She couldn't explain it. Every time she thought of him, it brought butterflies to her stomach.
Jamie boy stared at Lil, but he said nothing.
Lil shifted on her feet, holding the bag in her hands, and stared ahead at the door. Why was he staring at her? It made Lil uncomfortable. Lil breathed a sigh of relief when Aunt Rosa swung open the front door, ushering the three of them inside. "Come in, out of the cold," Aunt Rosa said.
"Cold?" Lil said. "It's gorgeous out here."
"Why, thank you," Marco said smugly to Lil. "I do hope to see you again soon."
"Not in this world," Lil said under her breath, shutting the door in his face.
"That was rude," Aunt Rosa scolded her.
"Sorry," Lil said too quickly. She didn't mean it, but her aunt didn't seem to notice.
Aunt Rosa looked the three children over and smiled warmly. "I only have two spare rooms, so the girls will have to share."
Lil inwardly groaned. She missed her privacy. Since Jamie had arrived and was staying with their family, they'd bought another mattress, squeezing it into Lil's room. There wasn't much Lil could say right now, though. It was a free vacation. Well, mostly free. Two weeks in Catania, Italy, before returning to school to start as a college freshman at community college. Her grades weren't bad enough to keep her from the local school, even with her lack of attention in class.
They were just outside of Sicily, near the beach. It was perfect. Well, almost perfect. She now had two siblings to look after. Lil tried not to complain. She knew she should be grateful, especially after their recent trip to Orenda. They were lucky to be alive.
"Do you need help unpacking?" Aunt Rosa asked.
Lil politely declined, taking her bag up the stairs to her room. She left the kids to fend for themselves. Lifting the suitcase, she placed it onto her bed and walked toward the open window. From a distance, she could hear waves crashing onto the beach and could smell the salt in the air. Salem, Missouri was never this gorgeous, not even in the summer.
Her fingers traced the worn wooden frame, pausing as she caught sight of Marco tinkering with his ride down below. She smiled, staring down at him. He was plenty cute with his dark locks and brown eyes, but he also was cocky and overly confident. He knew he looked good, and that was what made him unattractive. She could do without ever knowing him.
"What are you looking at?" her sister asked, dragging her suitcase against the wood floor boards.
"Nothing," Lil said, turning around and walking back toward the bed. "Do you need a hand?"
Jamey rolled her eyes, her blonde bangs nearly getting in the way as she blew them up and out of her face. "I did before I brought my bag upstairs, myself." She emitted a heavy sigh and collapsed back onto the mattress. "Piece of cake." She sounded winded.
Lil smiled and laughed under her breath. It was moments like these, when they shared not only a room but a part of each other. She walked over to the opposite side of the room and lifted the suitcase onto the bed beside Jamey. "Better?"
"Much." She grinned, staring up at the ceiling. "When do you think we can explore the city?" Jamey asked. "I want to go down to the beach." She sat up and rummaged through her vintage purse, retrieving a camera. "I want to show all my friends back home what they're missing."
"You have friends?" Lil asked and smiled.
"I have plenty of friends," Jamey said, "and they all live in this world."
Chapter 12
Mount Etna
Deep in the midst of slumber, Lil tossed and turned, finding a peaceful sleep difficult to come by. The same dream, repetitive in nature, kept occurring. There were always slight variations of location, but it was always of him. Why was she dreaming of Hudson?
His body towered from above, his muscles taut, his face serious as his eyes bored into hers. "I want you, Lil." Hudson dropped a kiss down to her nose and then her lips, moving his soft lips against her bare skin. She lay naked, his body towering above as he kissed
every inch of her supple skin. He left no spot unmarked.
"I want you too," Lil said, staring up, desiring his flesh. Her heart pounded anxiously in her chest, waiting for his body to touch hers. He hovered, teasing, naked but going slowly, making the moment seem to last forever.
"With time, I will be all yours," Hudson said. His lips fell down her chest with soft, fervent kisses reaching across her breasts. He covered her rosy pink nipples with his mouth, latching firmly onto one breast, sucking and gently caressing her hips as his tongue dove down across her stomach.
Lil stroked the back of his neck, her fingers in his hair, tangling and tugging on him, wanting his lips on hers. She moaned, passion seeping out of her whether she intended it to or not. "Hudson," she whined, her voice betrayed her.
He smiled, his breath tickling her stomach, watching her above as his lips caressed bare skin, inching farther south on his way down between her thighs. He teased her, skipping what she most desired as he suckled on the inside of her legs, missing her curls.
"My turn," she mumbled, shifting on the mattress, tumbling with him until she lay above his frame. "I want to taste every last bit of you." She marveled at his physique and admired his body.
His fingers kneaded in her hair, tangling in the tresses as she kissed a path down his chest and across his stomach. While he dragged every kiss out, Lil was far less patient. She crawled down his body, taking his manhood into her mouth, her tongue licking the head as she tasted the first evidence of his erection.
Lil brought his cock farther in past her lips, wanting to take him in deeper, desiring all of him that she could take.
"Get up, child." Aunt Rosa nudged Lil, attempting to rouse her from slumber.
The pulsing in her dream had forced a moan to expel past her lips. "It's too early," Lil said. Evidently, she'd been dreaming, and she didn't want it to end. Whatever the hour, Lil wasn't quite ready to get up.
"She's been talking in her sleep all morning," Jamey said. "It's time to wake up." Jamey's voice had a sing song quality. It was light and cheery. Lil hoped her sister had no idea the type of dream she'd just had. "We're taking a bus tour!"
"Even more reason to sleep in today." Lil pulled the covers up over her head, trying to drown out the noise and sunlight streaming in through the window. She wanted to shut her eyes and fall back to sleep. She didn't want to think about why her amazing dream had been about Hudson. She barely knew him. Why was she having intimate feelings and dreams about him? Lil rubbed the sleep from her eyes when she realized her sister and Aunt Rosa weren't leaving the room. "Bus tours are for old people." Maybe if she pointed out her disgust, they wouldn't make her go.
"We're going to Mount Etna," Jamie said and poked his head into the bedroom. "I'm dressed."
"Of course, you are," Lil said under her breath. She wasn't pleased. Lil uncovered her head and sighed. It didn't seem like she'd be getting any more sleep this morning. It was probably for the best. She'd never be able to face her sister or Jamie if they knew what she'd just dreamt about. Had she actually talked in her sleep or had Jamey exaggerated? What had her younger sister heard her say?
Jamey bounced around the room enthusiastically. She opened drawers, tossing clothes onto the floor as she tried to find something to wear.
Aunt Rosa cleared her throat and pointed at the mess Jamey had made. She didn't have to say anything else. The ten-year-old bent her head down and whimpered slightly, picking up her strewn clothes off the floor.
"You'll have to teach me that trick, Aunt Rosa." Lil was impressed.
Aunt Rosa locked eyes on Lil. "It's time to get up. The bus won't wait, and I have work this afternoon. If you want a day out of the house, you'll be ready within the hour."
Lil sighed, pushing herself out of bed.
An hour later, they were walking down the road toward the beach front. The tour bus stopped at the hotels in Catania. Aunt Rosa had arranged for the three of them to be gone all afternoon into the evening. It would be a long day out, but Lil didn't mind, especially the thought of seeing Mount Etna. She'd seen it once in Orenda—Elfinland. Lil was curious what it looked like here, in Italy. Did it contain the same magical forest?
Lil boarded the bus and sat across from Jamie and Jamey. It still felt weird, even after two months of living with both of them. Lil didn't entirely understand why she had a sister and Willow had a brother. Perhaps some things were not certain. Did that mean in another universe, a third parallel dimension, Lil was a boy? That assumed that multiverse theory existed. She had no idea what to think after she'd traveled to Orenda. It wasn't as though she could tell anyone. No one would believe her. She scrunched her nose just thinking about it. The doors to the bus shut, and the driver lurched the vehicle forward.
"Wait up!"
One day in Catania, and Lil would recognize that thick accent anywhere—Marco. "You've got to be kidding me," Lil said under her breath. Was he following her? Seriously, this was getting out of hand. She'd experienced weird things, the entire ordeal in Orenda being one of them, but Marco felt like a different ballpark, a new game. One she didn't like.
The driver opened the door, and Marco handed his ticket over before walking down the aisle, stopping in front of Lil. "Is this seat taken?" he asked, nodding toward the empty seat beside her.
"Yes!" Lil said a little too loudly. Half the bus was empty. Couldn't he find a different seat?
Marco shrugged and walked back one more row, sitting behind her sister, Jamey. "Whatever," he said. Was he trying to play it cool? Lil wasn't impressed.
The bus jolted forward again as the driver took off for the next hotel destination to load with additional passengers. Marco leaned forward, his legs facing out toward Lil. "Why don't you like me?" he asked.
"You're a stalker." It was not a coincidence Marco was on the tour bus. He had probably lived here his entire life. She wasn't an idiot. He'd been following her and must have seen Lil board the tour bus. It was obvious what they were doing today.
"What if I told you I like the beach and wanted to tour it with you?" Marco asked.
Lil raised an eyebrow and laughed. "I'd say you were on the wrong bus. We're touring Mount Etna."
"Damn," Marco said and smiled. "Well, I guess it'll do. I did already pay for the excursion." He leaned back in his seat, getting comfortable.
"You're incorrigible." Lil grinned and quickly averted her gaze out the window. She didn't want him to see her smile and think he'd won her over. He was still an overly confident Italian boy, the type her mother had warned her about before going on the trip.
Orla led them through the river into murky terrain. Deep beneath the burned topsoil and ghastly forest, the stream flowed across polished stones.
Willow swatted at her leg. Had a pixie nipped at her or a mosquito?
"Careful," Orla said, warning Willow as she pointed in the darkness toward the river's edge. Along the small bank, a trove of pixies watched with curiosity.
"What brings you down here?" a pixie dressed in purple asked. She wasn't more than six inches tall, with dainty feet and fiery red hair.
Orla sighed and hesitated. "Eilith attacked our home and is trying to destroy all of Elfinland."
The pixie in purple exchanged a quick glance with a male pixie. He dressed in beige, blending into the grass. "Not all of Elfinland. She hasn't set foot on our soil," he said.
"It's only a matter of time." Orla grew impatient. "We didn't come here for your help." Elegantly, she swam through the water, pushing forward into the darkness.
"Then, why did you come?" the pixie in purple asked. "You entered our land, why? For what purpose?"
Whatever the reason the pixies and fae didn't get along, Willow wasn't a part of that world. She hoped her presence to them wouldn't be seen as a threat. "We needed another path into Elfinland. The forest leading to the front of the castle has been destroyed."
"You want our help?" the pixie asked, laughing softly, amused.
"Not for a price," Willow said
, making it clear that this wasn't a negotiation. If pixies were anything like the fae, she'd be careful in her dealings. Besides, this mission was at Orla's request. If anyone should strike a deal, it should be her.
The pixies whispered amongst one another. It sounded like a sweet melody of birds chirping with the gentle moan of a hummingbird's wings. Willow found it a strange combination, considering that pixies had no wings. Apparently, not all fae did, either. At least Orla and Morgan were both without a pair.
"We've decided," the pixie in purple said and glanced among her trove, "to offer our assistance in the forest of Elfinland, as it is our home as well."
"Come now," Orla said, gesturing for the pixies to follow. "We're running out of time. I can feel Eilith's strength surrounding our land."
Willow had witnessed first-hand the decimation of the forest and the destruction of lives when Eilith had been cursed. She knew what the sorceress was capable of, but stopping her wasn't as easy as she hoped. Even though Willow knew the spell that would break the curse, there was a side-effect of using The Book of Incantations. Her mother had briefly warned her about the dangers.
"Willow, come sit down." Her mother patted the seat beside her.
Willow skipped around the living room. She missed playing outside. Her little brother kept her mother occupied most afternoons, chasing him around the house, trying to keep him out of trouble. The playground had burned down to the ground; a pile of ash lay in its place. There was nothing to do outside. Not that her mother let her play in the backyard anymore, either. The land outside her home had burnt, the neighbors vanished. Their own home had been spared. She had no idea what was coming, and how could she? Willow was a mere ten-years-old. The sky had grown red. A strange color, even for storms in Orenda.
"Is it story time?" Willow asked, seeing a large book in her mother's lap. Her mother hadn't paid her a lot of attention since her baby brother, Jamie, had been born two years ago. Even less now, with the world around them constantly in disarray.