by Bella Falls
I thought about Sassy and her tiny wings. I’d bet all the money in my savings she’d do anything to go back to the way things were. “I’m so glad you learned something new and that you’re capable of feeling bad about what happened, but that doesn’t help me understand how you think your heinous actions were saving Honeysuckle,” I redirected.
“Or why you didn’t alert someone to the sprite’s condition earlier,” Dash added.
Nick sighed and pulled the cork out from the whiskey bottle again. “I told you both, I’m a coward.” He poured more of the amber liquid into his glass and swirled it around. “I’d hoped you’d see things from my perspective. If I openly defied my sister, the consequences to my life would be dire. But I couldn’t strip away every single soul in town either. So, I did what any good businessman does. I compromised.”
“Hooray for you, I guess you deserve some medal,” Dash snarked.
Nick slammed his hand on his desk, sloshing some of the whiskey onto it. “I’m here, telling you everything. Owning up to my mistakes. Asking for you to give me a chance to make things right.”
“You’re here because Charli’s aunt closed the border down before you could escape.” The shifter took a few steps closer. “That’s the only reason you’re here.”
“What her aunt does or doesn’t do can’t stop me or my sister,” Nick said, swallowing a large sip of his drink.
“Why not?” I pressed.
He finished his whiskey in three more swallows, emitting a long sigh afterwards. “Because everything that’s happened…Lorelei finding out about your town? Me being here? It’s all your aunt’s fault.”
Chapter Nineteen
“What do you mean Aunt Nora’s to blame?” I bellowed. “Are you saying she willingly brought two crossroads demons into Honeysuckle?”
Nick sighed. “She didn’t know her actions would have bigger consequences than she thought. But she was the one that put your town on Lorelei’s radar.”
How could my aunt do something so stupid and reckless? What could she possibly want that she’d do business with an actual demon?
I groaned and closed my eyes. “She made a deal with you. An actual, binding contract.”
“Not with me. With Lorelei,” Nick clarified. “To gain control of the town by taking over the seat of power.”
I tried to wrap my head around the truth. Sure, Aunt Nora had challenged Nana time and time again for control. She’s aligned herself with the Charleston council once and failed. But signing away her soul for something so trivial?
“I want to say I don’t believe it, but I can’t,” I sighed, collapsing onto the small sofa.
Dash risked leaving the doorway open and closed the distance in two powerful strides. He crouched down in front of me. “I’m sorry.”
I snorted. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. She did this all on her own, and for what? A little say in how life exists in our tiny town. It’s pathetic.”
“And it didn’t exactly go the way she wanted either,” Nick admitted. “She’s been after me about why things hadn’t changed quicker than they did. After she signed the contract, things should have changed immediately with her taking her desired position. But it didn’t just poof happen. Something prevented the normal outcome.”
Dash grabbed my hand. “Your grandmother.”
I gasped. Now that I knew what all the pieces of the puzzle were, I could put it all together. “What’s happened to Nana…it’s because of my aunt’s deal.”
“Yes,” Nick admitted.
With my hand, I pushed Dash to the side so I could get a clear view of the demon. “Then you’re coming with us to her house and you’re going to fix it.”
“It’s not as simple as that,” he said.
“It had better be,” I threatened. “Or there will be hell to pay that’s so bad, even a demon like you won’t enjoy it.”
Dash helped me up from the couch, squeezing my hand once. He turned to face Nick. “If you do anything that makes me think you’re trying to leave, I won’t wait to give you over to the wardens. I’ll take care of you myself. I doubt I’d be convicted once they found out what you’ve been up to.”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t try.” Nick held up the bottle. “One more for the road?”
###
We arrived at Nana’s house and waded through the extra guests. Lucky had managed to stabilize Fenwen and had put her in my old room like I’d suggested.
Several of the fae waited around downstairs to make sure the sprite was okay. Horatio filled up the foyer with his hulking mass as he offered support to Juniper. Flint complained to Goss about the state of the council. Ben and Lily gushed over wedding magazines together in the parlor.
Lavender came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with glasses and a full pitcher. “Nick!” she squealed, spilling some of the tea as she rushed to put it down. With her arms empty, she threw herself at the demon. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
I snorted. “You couldn’t get the girl organically, so you cheated?”
“She could see the auras every time I performed a transaction. I couldn’t have her giving me away,” Nick admitted. “If it were any other time or place, I definitely wouldn’t mind getting to know her better.”
“You’re so charming,” I spit out. “If you used said charms on her to get your way—”
The demon lay his hand across his heart. “I swear to you, nothing untoward happened with her.”
I pointed my finger. “Upstairs. Now.”
Dash ignored Lavender’s protests and prodded Nick up to the second floor. Lucky met us at the top, his eyes full of anger and resentment.
“Did ye think I’d forgotten what ye did to dear Fenny?” He spit on the floor in front of Nick. “By the time I’m through with you, they’ll have a heckuva time identifyin’ your body.”
“Revenge can wait,” I proclaimed. “Right now, he’s our best chance at waking up Nana.”
“And why would ye be trustin’ a scoundrel like him?” the leprechaun pushed.
Dash took Nick by his shoulders and guided him into my grandmother’s bedroom.
I grabbed Lucky’s arm and pulled him close. “There’s no time for full explanations. Let’s just say he knows what’s happening here and is willing to help us reverse it all. Once he does that, we can discuss what to do with him.”
Although the leprechaun was less than pleased, I couldn’t waste any more time. My heart raced at the thought of fixing Nana.
Matt stopped me at the door before I could enter. “Why is Dash manhandling Nick?”
“Because he’s here to cure Nana.” I tried to move past him, but my brother blocked me.
“He’s a spa owner and gives massages and stuff. I don’t think a chakra realignment is going to do anything for her.” My brother took my hand in his. “She’s not getting better, Birdy. Doc Andrews still can’t tell us what’s affecting her after all this time. Her breathing is getting more erratic and she has moments of restlessness.”
I pushed against him. “You’re going to have to trust me, I think Nick will be able to fix everything.”
“You’re not listening, Charli.” Matt tightened his grip on me. “I think you and I have to talk about next steps.”
There wasn’t time to talk about giving up or next steps. Now that I understood the root of the problem, I needed to make sure to cure the disease.
“Listen, I’ll explain later why this is important. But if you don’t move out of my way right now, then I won’t be responsible for what you’ll make me do to you.” I allowed my magic to rise and flow down my arms, crackling over my hand held in his.
“Fine. The last thing Nana would want is us fighting against each other.” Matt moved to the side and let me pass by.
Doc Andrews stood next to the bed, blocking Nick’s access to my grandmother. Dash kept the demon in hand but argued with the healer.
“Enough!” I shouted, earning all of their attention. “Doc, I’m sorry, bu
t I need you to move out of the way.”
“Tell me what you think Mr. Draven will be able to accomplish and why,” he insisted. “Help me understand so I can approve any treatment of my patient.”
With Nick pretty much stuck inside the room, I tilted my head to have Dash move Doc Andrews out of the way. He motioned for Nick to do what he needed to and provided the demon the space to work.
The crossroads demon shuffled next to the bed and stared down at Nana. A heavy silence filled the room as we waited. After a long minute ticked by, my patience gave out.
“Why aren’t you doing anything?” I pushed, desperation lacing my words.
“Because I’m afraid I won’t be able to help, and I know how much this means to you.” With his fingers, Nick brushed a strand of hair out of her face.
Unwilling to let Nana suffer one more second, I rushed to the demon’s side to convince him. I set aside my irritation and appealed to his kinder side. “You said you wanted to help fix the problems you were a part of creating. Well, waking up my grandmother will be the best thing you could do for Honeysuckle.”
He swallowed hard. “I never intended for things to go as sideways as this. All I wanted was to know my other family. I thought it would help me figure out my place in this world.”
I thought about my biological family and how I still worried about my cousin Abigail. “Family is…complicated. The one I’m connected to by blood isn’t that great. But I only found that out by reaching out and meeting one of them. So, I get that desire of wanting to know more about where you came from and who you’re connected to.”
Nick’s body stiffened as he tried to control his emotions. “I made a horrible mistake, but I don’t know how to fix it.”
“You can start by trying to wake up the person in front of you.” With my body, I nudged him closer to the edge of the bed. “That woman in front of you raised an incredible son, my dad, who took me in as his own. And when both he and my mom died, Nana didn’t hesitate to do everything in her powers to take care of me and my brother. She loves so big, and I think that’s the only reason why she’s still hanging on. Because she’s still trying to take care of everyone she cares about.”
Nick sniffed more than once, and his voice cracked when he spoke. “Mom was like that. She sacrificed everything for me even though it meant her life was harder.
“If this was your mother, what would you be willing to do to save her life?” I asked, willing to pick at his old scabs to break through.
The rest of his resistance crumbled. “Anything,” he breathed out. Taking a seat next to my grandmother’s limp form, he placed one hand under her neck and the other over her forehead. He closed his eyes and concentrated.
“What is he doing?” hissed Matt.
“Shh.” I took a step back but stayed close enough to monitor his progress.
The bedside clock ticked several times with nothing changing. Nick frowned. “I can’t break through.”
“Try harder,” I insisted from behind him.
The bed started vibrating underneath them, and the row of framed photos on Nana’s dresser rattled and fell over. The whole house shook, and the lights flickered on and off over and over.
“We have to stop this,” Matt said, stepping forward.
Dash stood in his way. “Trust your sister and let him work.”
“There’s a literal earthquake happening while he’s doing whatever it is he’s doing to my grandmother. Don’t make me have to take you down,” my brother warned.
“Don’t make me laugh,” Dash retorted.
Nana’s lips moved, and I shushed everyone. “She’s saying something.” I stared at my grandmother’s mouth, hoping I hadn’t hallucinated things.
“She is trying to talk.” Nick bent his head closer so that his ear hovered over her mouth. “She keeps repeating three words.”
The quaking stopped when Nana stilled again. Lights winked back on. Several footsteps stomped up the stairs, but I waved my hand at the door to slam it shut. I heard Lucky arguing with other people in the hallway on the other side.
Nick stood up from the bed, sweat trickling down his temples. “I’m sorry. I tried to tell you that I didn’t think it would work.”
My brother grabbed him by his collar. “What did you do to her?” he gritted through his teeth.
I attempted to pry his fingers off the demon. “If you don’t let him talk, then we might not know what she said. That’s more important than you losing control right now.”
My brother considered my words for a second before shoving Nick away from him. “Okay, somebody better have a good explanation or I’m going to lose it on all y’all.”
“What did she say, Nick?” I asked in a quiet voice.
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Nothing that makes sense to me, but maybe you’ll understand. She repeated three words. Bird, tree, and save.”
My brother cackled long and loud in derision. “That’s the results of whatever you did? Nana talked gibberish?”
I held up my finger. “It might not be. Bird probably stands for me. So, maybe she meant for me to hear her.”
“Or her brain is dying and she can’t control what she’s saying,” my brother yelled, exasperated.
I thought about when she’d talked to me after my visit to the spa. After telling Nick about my grandmother’s and my supposed conversation, I asked him the important question only he could answer. “Is it possible that we were on some similar plane of existence in that moment? That the sleep you put me in was the same?”
Matt’s head popped up. “He did that to you?” His hands balled into fists.
Dash held onto my brother’s shaking frame. “Not yet.”
“It could be,” Nick considered. “The magic that caused your grandmother to fall into this deep a sleep is definitely related. But she’d have to be pretty powerful to fight off the effects to be able to talk to you.”
“And slap me,” I added, rubbing my cheek. It hadn’t just felt real. She’d actually hit me. “Nana is that strong, and I think she’s still trying to warn me or get me to do something.”
“There’s something else, and it’s going to complicate matters,” Nick added. “But you have to promise that neither of you boys take your frustrations out on me.”
“Depends,” grunted Dash.
“I still don’t know why you’re here, so no. I’m not promising you anything,” Matt said, still jumpy for a fight.
“Fine, then I will talk to the one person who’s been willing to hear me out.” Nick turned to me. “My sister’s coming to town.”
“When?” I asked.
“That’s the tricky part.” He grimaced. “I don’t know for sure, but it has to be soon. Your aunt’s contract has been fulfilled, so she’ll be on her way to collect.”
Pixie poop. The last thing we needed to add onto our list of things not going our way was a visit from a she-devil.
“Then I think it’s time we clear out this house of everyone with the exception of the few who haven’t been affected by your actions.” I turned to Dash and Matt. “Gather who you think we can trust and bring them to the dining room. We’ll get Nick to catch them up, and then we’ll all figure out a way to fix things once and for all.”
My eyes focused on the large mirror hanging on the opposite wall above the dresser. An idea dawned on me, and I rushed over to retrieve Nana’s handheld mirror.
“What do you need that for?” my brother asked.
“Backup.”
Chapter Twenty
Mason stared back at me through the reflective surface. “If bird stands for you, what do the other two things mean?”
“The only tree worth mentionin’ is the Founders’ Tree. There’s some pretty powerful magic flowin’ through and connectin’ it to the earth.” Lucky sipped on one of the few bottles of beer we found in the back of the refrigerator.
Horatio stood in the corner of Nana’s dining room, too afraid he might break one of her heirloom
chairs. “If I may be so bold as to ask, is it possible that the word your grandmother uttered might have been safe and not save?”
All heads turned to stare at Nick at the head of the table. He glared back at us. “I don’t know for sure. What’s the difference?”
“Well,” the troll continued, “one is a state of being and the other is an action. If Vivian meant safe, then perhaps she means for her only granddaughter to do just that. Stay safe.”
I shook my head. “Nana wouldn’t want only me to be out of danger. If Nick’s right and the reason that she’s still with us at all is because she’s such a strong witch, then she’s doing something to protect us all, even while she’s knocked out.”
The brass chandelier over our heads buzzed once and went out. The candles we’d lit in preparation of a blackout cast a soft glow over the attendants at the table.
Lady Eveline stared into one of the flickering flames in front of her. “We are wasting time trying to decipher words that this demon claims Vivian said. He has confessed his crime, perhaps in the hopes of lulling us into trusting him before he betrays us all.”
“Nick already explained his part in everything,” I defended, wanting to keep our group focused on what was to come rather than what had already happened. “And I believe in his reasons for wanting to help.”
The demon gave a slight nod in appreciation for my support.
“Once he helps us figure out how to beat his sister at her own game,” I continued, “he’s promised to restore all the pieces of souls that he stole plus turn himself in for the part he played in hurting Fen.”
“Explain the difference between my aunt’s contract with your sister and your little jars of souls again,” Matt requested. “I still don’t get it.”
Nick drew in a deep breath and obeyed. “Your aunt made a formal deal with Lorelei. She outlined the outcome she desired, and then she signed on the dotted line, guaranteeing her soul in trade for what she wanted most. When I drew out the particles of soul, there was no contract involved. Therefore, there’s no deal to be kept or broken.”