by Amy Patrick
He disappeared over the edge of the nest, leaving me standing with my jaw hanging open and my heart in tatters. Insecurities. Jealousy. What a jerk.
I’d been too stunned to interrupt, and he’d given me no chance to reply, but his callous words now played through my mind in a continuous loop. I know your concern about your friend seems like a very big thing to you.
Furious tears erupted and ran down my face. If he’d wanted to ensure I never came looking for him again, he’d succeeded brilliantly. Who was this guy? Certainly not the Lad I’d fallen in love with, the sweet, sensitive boy who’d been my hero in so many ways. Now he was truly his father’s son.
* * *
I trudged home, alternating between states of fury and despair. There was no part of me that wanted to go out tonight. Shay and I had planned to take Emmy out in Oxford for a last hurrah, but of course that wasn’t happening now.
When I called to give her the news about Emmy’s early departure, Shay didn’t seem all that surprised or worried. And she still wanted to get together. I finally agreed to cruise the Sonic and the ballpark with her for a while. She was hoping her new crush Lance would be around. And maybe seeing her would help—I might pick up a clue or two that would lead me to Emmy.
She had certainly been more receptive to hearing about Emmy’s big plans these past few weeks, so she very well might have more information about them than I did. Maybe Emmy had even mentioned something to Shay about where she’d be staying in L.A. or how to reach her.
I took Grandma’s car into town and pulled up to Shay’s house, a gingerbread Victorian that had to be at least a hundred years old, like the rest of the houses on her street. She must have been watching from the window because she came out the front door, crossed the porch, and ran down the steps to where I’d parked on the street.
Opening the passenger door, she slid into the seat in a whoosh of energy and Viva La Juicy perfume. “Hey girl!”
“Hey. You look cute,” I said. She did look adorable, as her pageant-girl self always did. She was only saved from universal female hatred by her consistent niceness. You just couldn’t not like her.
“You, too,” she said. “Hey, what’s the matter? You seem bummed.”
I started the car and began the short drive to Sonic. “I’m fine. I’m… I’m worried about Emmy, I guess.”
“Well stop worrying—she’s partying her ass off in La La Land right now. I’m sure she’ll call us this weekend when she gets settled.”
“So… you don’t have a number for her? Or an address?” I glanced over at her in the passenger seat.
“No. Do you?”
My shoulders sagged as the hope leached from my body. “No. I have no idea how to reach her.”
“Well, she just got there—give her time. Anyway, we can ask her mom.”
“Yeah.” I sighed, already aware of how useless that tactic was.
When I turned the car into Sonic, Shay sat up straight in her seat and practically wiggled with excitement. “There’s Lance with his friends. You wanna get out and talk to them?”
“No, you go ahead. I’ll stay in the car.”
“You sure?”
I pulled into one of the diagonal parking spaces. “Yeah. I want to order something.”
Actually, I wanted to just get through the evening. My last hope for information about Emmy’s whereabouts was gone—Shay knew nothing. I already knew Emmy’s parents were clueless. Lad wasn’t going to be any help. I was completely on my own.
I couldn’t even begin to solve the problem tonight, though. I had plans to drown my sorrows in microwave popcorn and a Vampire Diaries marathon as soon as Shay got her Lance fix and said we could leave.
A knock at my window startled me, causing me to jump. On the other side of it, Nox stood smiling and gesturing for me to roll the window down. I glanced through the windshield at Shay, who was in full-flirt with Lance, leaning against the hood of his car. Dang it. I couldn’t just drive off and leave her.
Heaving a heavy sigh, I rolled the window down. “What are you doing here? I thought you had gone out to L.A. with your band to get ready for a world tour or something.”
“And it’s nice to see you, too.” His voice danced with sarcasm. “I’ll be heading there soon. I’m taking a short break from world domination at the moment.”
When his wit failed to elicit a smile from me, Nox got serious. He rested his forearms on the top of the window frame, putting his face much too close to mine as he bent and sort of hung into the car. “Listen, I heard about your friend Emmy. I’m sorry.”
“Sure you are.” I looked away and fiddled with the stereo controls.
“No really, I’m sorry. You’re upset. And believe it or not, whatever bothers you bothers me.”
I shrugged. “Well, thanks I guess, but apparently there’s nothing anyone can do.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t even know how to begin to find her short of going to Los Angeles and driving around hoping to spot her walking down Sunset Boulevard. I’ve already tried to get some help, and… well, that’s not happening.”
“You mean the police?”
I shot him a give-me-a-break glance. “You know they can’t do anything. No. I mean I asked Lad to help me.”
His dark eyebrows lifted. “He turned you down?”
“Never mind. I’ll figure it out.” I pressed the button to raise the car window, causing him to back away from the opening.
He grabbed the top of the window glass before it closed completely. “Wait. Wait. Maybe I can help. I do have some connections in California. As you said, I’ve been out there a lot these past few months, rehearsing and getting things ready for the tour.”
“No,” I blurted. Connections or not, I didn’t trust Nox. Not anymore. He hadn’t been honest with me and had very possibly glamoured me with his music for purposes only he knew. No way was I going to put my faith in him. I was better off alone.
Shay picked that moment to walk back to the car. Thank God. Now we could leave, and I could get away from Nox and home to the beautiful Salvatore brothers. Shoot—were they Elven, too? Probably.
“Hi Nox. Hey Ryann, would you mind if I ride around with Lance for a while?” Shay gave me a big grin that told me their conversation had gone very well. Their “ride” would probably end up out at the end of the not-quite-finished bypass where kids took their cars to park and hook up.
I blew out a breath and forced a smile. Someone in this godforsaken town should be happy. “Sure. That’s great. So, he’ll take you home later then?”
She nodded, still wearing the giddy grin, and I gave her a thumbs-up. “Goodbye Nox,” I said, closing the window completely and putting the car into reverse.
He stood for a moment, too close to allow me to back out of my parking spot without crushing his toes, but then he fell back a few steps, and I pulled out and drove away, not bothering to look into the rearview mirror.
Chapter Five
Deal with the Devil
My mom shook me awake early the next morning.
“What’s going on?” I mumbled. “It’s Saturday—I mean it’s summer.” I rolled to face her and forced my heavy eyelids open.
“Nox is here,” she whispered. “Do you want to see him, or should I tell him to come back later?”
I sat up in bed, instantly awake. What the heck was he doing here? “No, I’ll get up. Give me a minute.”
It would have done me no good to try to go back to sleep, knowing Nox was right on the other side of my bedroom door. What does he want? And what was he doing in my house?
“Well, I’m on my way to work in a minute, but Grandma is here.” She kissed my forehead and hugged my shoulders. “Have a good day, okay? I’ll see you tonight.”
Giving her a smile and a wave, I slid out of bed. I’d brush my teeth and throw on some shorts and a t-shirt, then get rid of Nox as quickly as possible.
The last thing I needed was him hanging around
and glamouring Mom into whatever whim he had on his mind. She might be on her way out, but it was no secret she always had a few minutes to spare for him. Like most other females, she was highly susceptible to his charms, in spite of her half-Elven heritage.
Glancing at the mirror, I momentarily considered trying to deal with the bed head but decided it really didn’t matter. Maybe the Medusa look would scare him away.
I walked into the great room to find Nox’s huge form taking up half the sofa. He stood when he saw me and looked me over, his gaze landing on my hot pink toenails before traveling up to my cosmetic-free face. His smile was wide and thoroughly irritating.
“Good morning.” His voice carried a note of amusement. “You look like a little girl without your makeup on.”
My face heated, making up for the lack of foundation and blusher. “What do you want, Nox?”
“I guess I can’t get enough of your friendly face and charming personality lately,” he said, laughing softly at my less-than-amused expression. “Fine. I’m here because I have something you want.”
“Right. I don’t think so.”
“You want to find Emmy. I can help you do that.”
“How can you help me? She’s in L.A. in a fan pod. What—you have some kind of fan pod directory?”
“No—but I do have a fan pod. Or… I can have one.” His brow lifted in a so-there way.
I froze in place. “What do you mean?”
“My agent is Alfred Frey. He’s been bugging me about starting a pod for months now, and I’ve been putting him off. But maybe this is the right time. If I move out to L.A. full-time and let him set one up for me, I might be able to get some insider information. You could come with me, and we could find Emmy—together.”
Dumbfounded, I looked at him for a few moments, trying to get it through my head that Nox, who I’d known for months, who I’d thought I’d known so well, really was a Dark Elf. I mean, I knew it in theory—I’d discovered that fact on the day of Lad’s cancelled wedding, the day Lad’s father was found murdered. But, it was so hard to believe.
And now… with this revelation, that he had a fan pod just waiting to be born, I had a whole new level of disbelief to process. Nox was a celebrity. A fledgling celebrity, but big enough to have a fan pod of his own, like Vallon Foster the movie star, and Serena Simmons the supermodel-turned-actress, and Reggie Dillon the NFL quarterback, and countless other famous athletes and performers who seemed too good to be true.
As it turned out, they all were.
At my silence he continued. “So, you know The Hidden has been working on our album in the studio, and we’re getting ready to go out on tour this fall? I’ve been flying back and forth to L.A. so much I was already thinking of moving into my house there full-time. The band’s got a lot of pre-tour promotion we have to do anyway—TV and radio station appearances. I haven’t actually met Vallon yet, but once I move out there, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to meet up with him.”
“Wait. Slow down. You have a house in Los Angeles?”
“Yep. Right on the beach in Malibu. It could be home base for Operation Find Emmy. Sound like a plan?”
When Nox had mentioned being out in California lately, I certainly never imagined he already had a house there, much less a beach house in Malibu. And the idea of going there with him—it did sound like a plan. A dangerous one.
“I… don’t think so.”
Nox rested his hands on his hips and threw back his head as if the answer to persuading me was written across the ceiling. His voice was rough with exasperation. “Ahhh… Ryann. Come on. This is what you wanted, right? A way to find Emmy? You’re not going to get a better offer.”
That much was true. I wasn’t going to get any other offers at all. But traveling with Nox—
Blinking in rapid succession, I blew out a breath. “I don’t know. I need to think. And I can’t think with you standing right there, pressuring me.”
A confident smile overtook his face. “Fine. You think about it.” He walked toward the door as he talked, throwing a grin back over his shoulder. “Then let me know what day I should book the plane tickets.”
Before he reached the door, Grandma came into the room from the kitchen. She and Nox stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments, and he left, laughing as the door clicked shut behind him.
* * *
“What do you think, Grandma?” We sat at the breakfast table together where I’d shared Nox’s plan with her.
“I’m not sure. I told you before he was probably your only hope. But even if he has the best intentions, Nox doesn’t seem to understand any more about what the Dark Elves are up to than we do. A few minutes ago when I suggested they might have nefarious purposes, he laughed.”
“Well, he’s been with the Light Elves since he was a child. He’s only just started associating with the Dark Elves again—maybe he doesn’t know anything. Or… maybe he’s lying.”
“No. He’s not lying. Whatever’s going on with the fan pods, he really means to look out for you out there and bring you home safely. It’s impossible for us to lie when we communicate in the Elven way, mind-to-mind.”
“Oh, wow.” That was a revelation. I really needed to work on developing my Elven communication skills. I’d love to know what was really going on inside that inflated head of his. Of course, Nox was plenty capable of deceiving without actually telling any lies.
I’d known him almost a year, and he’d never told me a direct lie—yet he’d managed to keep me from finding out he was Elven. And Lad’s foster brother. Nox was a master of omission.
Even if I became an expert in Elven communication, I’d still only be able to hear the thoughts he wanted me to hear—those he sent to me. Elves didn’t walk around reading everything in each other’s minds. If Nox had anything to hide, I had no doubt he’d still manage to keep it from me.
How could I trust him?
How could I find Emmy without him?
Both questions had the same answer.
I couldn’t.
“I don’t think I have a choice. If it were me who’d disappeared off the face of the earth, and I had a friend who might be able to help, wouldn’t you want her to? Wouldn’t you do it for your friend, for your sister?”
Grandma Neena had only recently been reunited with her own sister, even her parents, after a forty-year estrangement. She’d been happier about that than I’d seen her in my whole life.
“I don’t have a sister, but Emmy’s the closest thing I’ve got,” I continued. “And there may literally be no other human on the planet who can help her.”
Her hands lifted then fell onto the tabletop. “Well, I guess it’s decided then. What will you tell your momma? How will you explain your sudden desire to fly out to L.A.?”
“She knows I’ve always been fascinated with UCLA. I’ll say I want to visit the campus. She respects education and career-readiness more than anything. You know that. And I’ll use my waitressing money for the ticket. If she still doesn’t go for it, I know someone who can glamour her—quite easily, in fact.”
“Yes, that’s true.” She chuckled, understanding my reference to Nox. Then all amusement left her face. She took my hands and looked into my eyes. “I’m worried about this Ryann. I’ll cover for you and work to get the tea company going here while you’re gone, but you have to promise me something.”
Her seriousness alarmed me. “What?”
“Promise me when you look for Emmy you’ll look, only—not confront anyone, not try to perform some cockamamie rescue operation by yourself. Let Nox deal with the Dark Elves—you’re not up to the task. They’re not like me and Lad.”
I nodded as she went on, her fingers tightening around mine until it was almost painful.
“And I need to hear from you often—the truth about what’s going on. If I find out you’ve joined a fan pod… I’ll be getting on a plane myself.”
“Don’t worry, Grandma.” I patted her hand in reassurance. “T
hat will never happen.”
Chapter Six
Up, Up and Away
The flight attendant handed me a bubbling, icy Coke and gave Nox the beer he’d asked for, lingering to make sure there was nothing else he needed before moving on to serve the other first class passengers.
“You should have some of this. It’ll help with those first-time jitters,” he said, holding out the foam-topped glass to me.
Nox had insisted on buying our tickets—thus the first class seating. My money would probably have gotten me a lovely seat conveniently located right outside the plane’s rear lavatory, but I suspected I still would have been more comfortable there. He looked entirely comfortable with the relative luxury, already reclining and enjoying his pre-flight beverage.
I shook my head. “I don’t have jitters about flying.”
“You have jitters about something.” Cutting a side glance at me, he picked up a Luxury Pools magazine someone had left behind. He flipped through the pages wearing a smug smile.
I pulled at the end of my seatbelt strap again—still fastened—before folding my hands in my lap and focusing my attention out the window. Within minutes we were backing out of the gate, taxiing down the runway, and lifting off for my first trip to California and my first stretch of enforced togetherness with Nox since discovering the truth about him.
I pretended to sleep for most of the flight. Real sleep proved impossible. My mind was too active, filled with equal parts anticipation and apprehension about what would be waiting for us when we touched down.
Some things I’d expected, like the bright sunshine outside the window as we taxied to the terminal and disembarked, and the massive crowd inside. And there were people actually holding up those little signs for arriving passengers like they did in the movies—I wasn’t sure if that was a real thing before now.
Of course, there wasn’t a sign for us—we didn’t need one. Only one of the waiting drivers looked like a professional volleyball player or a male model. Or both. He nodded to Nox as we approached him, and we followed our ridiculously handsome chauffeur outside to the curb where a gleaming black Hummer waited. He opened the back door for us.