Max snorted at Dean’s antics, but Ella wasn’t paying any attention to her brother. Her angry eyes were trained on Max, studying him as he opened her drawer and proceeded to pack her some underwear.
She knew that Max and Katie had been spending a lot of time together at school this past week. Katie posted pictures and comments on the internet for anyone to see. Pictures of Max. She had even considered dropping Katie as one of her online friends so she wouldn’t be subjected to her barrage of daily nonsense, but decided not to. Being stuck in this bed, she needed all the information she could get about what was going on at school, particularly with Max, and Katie was a fount of information.
She had also been having terrible visions of Max and Katie together, and at times she wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t.
Katie had lost a few cronies that week with Savannah and Bella being shipped to the Barrington’s halfway house for sick witches. Another girl had gone as well, but she was much younger and Ella didn’t know her.
Max had been cool with her all week. She knew he was upset that she wouldn’t leave, but didn’t he understand that she couldn’t? She knew Max had a soft spot for Katie. She was genuinely nice to Max, but only to Max. Katie treated everyone else with a superficial disdain, and that was if she liked you.
Woe be you if she didn’t. That meant locker room beatings or worse. Ella was convinced Katie had graduated to boyfriend stealing.
Good Lord, the girl had just moved to town last September and yet had so much power at Barrington High. She was the new girl, yet that made no difference. Katie ruled the school.
One picture, she noted today, was a snapshot of Max and Katie laughing at each other. They obviously didn’t realize they were being photographed, and their faces were awfully close together. Ella saw genuine mirth and carefree happiness in both their faces.
She looked across the room where Max now stood, brooding. He had his arms crossed and he looked bored. There was no mirth or carefree happiness in his face right now. She felt sad and very sorry for herself. She was a burden to him and only years of loyalty kept him here. Dean was chattering up a storm, but Ella could see Max wasn’t listening. Suddenly, Ella had had enough.
“Dean, can you get out of my room so I can talk to Max in private?” she said loudly. She felt flushed and angry. That picture had made her really mad. One week out of school and Max was flirting it up with someone she hated. They had just started their romantic relationship. Did he think it was okay to pal around with that blond piranha? It wouldn’t have been okay if they were still only best friends. Betrayal was betrayal.
Dean stopped his chatter-puttering activities. “Really? Fine,” he said, offended. “Stumble around and pack your own bag then, diseased one,” and with a huff he left the room.
When the door closed, there was utter silence. Why didn’t he hug her? Where was the affection? The caring? The love? What the hell was wrong with Max?
“We do need to talk,” he said quietly. He came to sit by her side, his face serious.
Ella lifted her arms to hug him, but he pushed them down, a sad look on his face. “I think it would be better if we didn’t touch right now.”
Ella felt hot and cold at the same time. Dread invaded the pit of her stomach. Something was terribly wrong with her boyfriend. She took the offensive. “So, what’s with all the pictures of you and Katie lately? You seem awfully happy,” she choked out. She sounded peevish. Her throat felt tight and she started to perspire.
Max sighed. “Look, Ella, I think I may have misled you a bit by my actions at the wedding.”
Ella’s heart almost stopped. What was he talking about? The feeling of dread expanded.
“I had a lot to drink. I found out later that my brothers had been spiking my drinks all night. They wanted me to loosen up a little. I made some bad choices.”
“Bad choices?” she echoed back dumbly. Ella pinched herself. Nope, she was not dreaming. She really was in Hell. “And?”
“Ella, you’ve been my best friend since I can remember. I don’t want that to change. I love that you’re my best friend. But, I’ve been struggling with feelings for you and for…Katie.”
Ella sank back into her pillows. Her face felt numb. Max was flushed.
“I don’t know how to say this,” he said roughly, his voice low. “Time apart this week has given me some perspective.” He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I’m not going to lie to you, Ella. Katie and I made out a couple of times. I couldn’t help it. I’m so attracted to her.” He sighed, shaking his head. He looked embarrassed. “I like her, a lot, and I see you more as, well, a sister. I can’t even think about what happened at the wedding. It’s so…wrong.”
Ella was floored, and she was staring at Max in shock. She knew her mouth had dropped open with incredulity, but she couldn’t seem to close it. Her heart was racing and her pajamas were drenched with sweat.
“You made out with Katie?” Horrible visions filled her head of them kissing and Max’s hand under that viper’s shirt. She wanted to vomit.
“I wanted to wait until you were better to tell you, but she posted those stupid pictures and I knew I couldn’t wait. I want to be honest with you, and now it looks like you’ll be sick for a while.”
“But I thought we were dating…” she trailed off. He’d never actually asked her out. She’d just assumed, and kissed him whenever she had the chance. Ella burned with shame and humiliation. Oh God, Max didn’t return her feelings. She felt like such a fool. She just wanted him to go.
“When we kissed at the wedding, I thought I’d made up my mind, but it didn’t work out that way. I need to explore my feelings for her. Do you understand? She feels the same way, which is why she tried to intimidate you in the girls’ locker room at school.”
“Intimidate me? The girls were kicking and hitting me!”
Max gave her a hangdog look. “Yeah, she feels terrible about that. Look, I think this has worked out for the best. Being at the cabin will allow you to recover and think about things…give you time to adjust and maybe find it in your heart to try and like her.”
Ella’s eyes filled with tears. She stared at Max’s adorable face and she wanted to slap it, hard, and scream her rage and hurt. Instead, she just stared. Her life had just changed, irrevocably.
Max leaned over to hug her, but she stopped him cold. “Don’t you dare touch me, Max Barrington,” she warned him in an angry voice, wiping her sweaty forehead with her hand. She closed her eyes and when she opened them they were a bright, glowing green.
She bared her teeth at him.
Max yelped and backed away, shocked.
“Get out!” she hissed, pulling her covers down and crawling toward him on the bed. She looked insane with her glowing eyes and bared teeth. Were those fangs? Horrified, Max shouted and ran for the door, screaming for Dean as he exited and slammed it closed behind him. He heard a thump and Dean came running down the hall.
“What happened?” he yelled, pushing Max aside and swinging into Ella’s room. “Holy fuck! Ella!”
Max could see her sweaty form slumped on the floor at the foot of her bed.
Ella’s mom arrived. “Oh my God, my baby,” she whispered as she rushed in. The twins, Zach and Eddie were behind her.
“I told you I heard her ululate,” said Eddie, looking into his sister’s room and then accusingly at Max.
Zach considered his brother’s sentence. “That was a good use of that word, Eddie.” He nodded his agreement before he glared at Max as well. “She did ululate, and Max was there when she did. What happened to our sister?”
Ululate? Max was astounded. He knew what the word meant. He was just surprised to hear it from a pair of eight-year olds. He shook his head. He had to focus. Ella was unconscious. He was panicking and couldn’t think. Why couldn’t he think? “Stop using big words, you brats.”
The cabin.
Max went back in to get her bag. Dean had picked her up and put her back on the bed
.
“She has to leave NOW,” Max said, staring down at Ella’s limp form. He would respect her request and not touch her. “Look at her, Mrs. Croft! She’s barely conscious. None of Doc Peabody’s meds are working. She needs out of this toxic environment. Dean, help me!”
Dean looked at Max, and then at his mother. “He’s right mom. I know you’ve been trying to be supportive of her decision, but this is beyond us now.”
Jo Croft nodded. “I need to call your father,” she said to Dean tightly, wringing her hands, worry etched in every line in her face. Why her children, for the love of God.
The twins untwisted her hands and each held one. They glared at Max, and he knew they knew. Their intuition was legendary, even if they didn’t always understand what they were feeling. Not much got past them. They knew he’d pushed Ella to her limit. “And Max will call his daddy and make arrangements to get Ella to safety,” Eddie said.
Zach tugged on her arm. “Come on, mommy. We’ll make you a cup of tea.”
Max called his father who sent a car to pick them up. Inside the car, in the front passenger seat was a woman with silver blond hair. Once Ella was settled she turned to introduce herself. She seemed vaguely familiar. “Hi Max. My name is Vailendra. You can call me Vail for short. I’m Elanah’s daughter, and the “den mother” at the cabin, so to speak. I’ll be staying there until this magical mess is resolved. Although calling it a cabin is a bit of an understatement.”
That was it. She looked like Elanah, but different. How on earth was Elanah Von Vixen’s daughter still alive?
He was so confused. What was going on here? Sometimes he hated living in Barrington. You just never knew what would happen in this damn town, or who would show up.
“Relax, Max. You’re under a lot of stress. We’ll talk when we get to the cabin. Just keep Ella comfortable and quiet until we get there.”
Vailendra spoke for a few minutes with Ella’s tearful mother before getting back in the car. “Okay, let’s go.”
Max fell asleep with Ella in his arms. When they arrived, Ella was put in a room and the door shut behind her. She’d been unconscious the whole trip up. The caretaker, Horace, was there. He was an old, stumpy man who kept the place livable for the Barringtons. He didn’t look happy to see Vailendra, but she didn’t much care. She put bags of groceries on the counter in the kitchen, tossed her bag on the table and motioned for Max to follow her. He told the driver to have a cup of coffee and went out to the back, where Vailendra had found chairs and seated herself.
He had a million questions but she stopped him before he got started.
“Hold your questions until I’ve given you some info. My understanding is that your family, among others, knows about the Fae, magic, blah blah blah.”
She was pretty like Elanah with only a touch of Fae otherworldliness, but a touch was all she needed. The girl was breathtakingly beautiful.
Max sat. All he said was, “yep.”
Vail smiled. “Wonderful, that leaves out hours of convincing on my part, thankfully, because I’m too tired to do it right now.”
Max smiled back. “Long day?”
She looked shrewdly back at him. “You could say that. It looks like you can say the same.”
Max nodded sadly, his eyes suspiciously bright.
She looked out toward the woods, giving him his privacy. “I’m here to help. My father was a Fae named Valentine. I am immortal as long as I stay in their world, which I do pretty much most of the time.” Vail smiled impishly at Max. “So, while I’m hundreds of years old, I’m physically only 27. It’s a good age for me.”
“You’re older than your mother.”
“Yes I am.”
“So, you’ve done this before? Ventured out to help mortals with their…problems.”
“I am part of a group of Fae half breeds that work to undo the evil magical beings inflict on the world. Our missions include demons, witches, hexes, curses, etc. This is the first time I’ve been called by my mother.”
Max perked up. “So you know Wayman and Taline?”
She nodded. “I do. They were pulled here to help with Willow’s hex and to deal with the demon’s presence. I was working on a voodoo problem south of here.” She shuddered delicately. “That was creepy.”
Max was impressed. Vigilantes, who would have thought? “Do you travel everywhere?”
“I can, but I usually end up in places with more magic than others. Places where awful things have happened have terrible memories that remain, bloodshed that screams for vengeance, black magic that pulses…those places draw us the most. Because evil leaves a taint, bad things tend to continue happening.”
“Like in Barrington.”
“Well, that hex was a whopper by anyone’s standards.” She stood up and brushed off her jeans. She had white rhinestones in a pretty pattern down the side, and her knee-high boots and short leather jacket appeared to be made from the same soft, honey-brown leather. He stood up with her.
“I’ve been briefed by your father and my mother. The charges already in my care haven’t worsened, so that’s positive news. Ella will be fine. Your dad had Wi-Fi set up, so I’ll be able to e-mail you with regular updates on your girlfriend.”
Max’s face fell. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
Vail lifted her eyebrows. “Oh, well, you could have fooled me. My mistake.”
“I don’t deserve her,” he mumbled quietly and turned to go.
“Bye, Max,” she said before going into Ella’s room to check on her. “Nice meeting you.”
“Same here.” Max nodded at Horace and headed out. The driver downed his coffee in one shot and followed. At the door, Max halted, holding an envelope out to Horace. “Can you give this to Ella when she wakes up? I forgot to leave it in her room.”
Horace took the note but didn’t look at it. “Sure thing, lad.”
Max waved and they left.
Chapter 9 – Familiar Territory
Barrington County, Present Day
Elanah skipped out of the hotel and strolled down the forest path past the Limerick Candy Factory. She was headed to the red barn, and turned left on East Road. She could see the barn as she walked and marveled at how the dirt roads had turned to asphalt and the buildings looked old and established rather than raw and new. She loved this new, comfortable world.
She remembered it had taken the men of Barrington four days to raise the barns. They’d finished one per day, working feverishly. She remembered the camaraderie of the men as they hoisted and nailed, calling to each other and laughing in the sun. She remembered the quiet efficiency of the women as they served lunch. Despite the looming hex, the barn raisings had been days of festivity and social interaction. Elanah sighed as she remembered wishing she lived in Barrington. Limerick had been a much bigger town and lacked the close feeling of a small one.
Barrington now used the red barns to house town equipment not in use. She could sense rather than see the hex symbol that had been painted as a warning on the side of the barn a few years ago. Now covered with fresh paint, it was all but forgotten. As she walked closer she could feel the faint vestiges of the power used to activate her spell, the spell that had protected the demon’s cage, but had also poisoned the town. Months of Willow’s evil seeping into the land, unable to escape, cycling in on itself. Sadie had blown the containment spell, but had not cleared the tainted magical residue. Then again, how could she have known it was there, known how it would mutate, and ultimately, kill? She couldn’t have known.
Elanah put her hand on the barn, where Sadie’s hand had been, and could feel her own presence from hundreds of years ago. She tested Sadie’s magic, tasted it, and got to know its signature and feel. She hadn’t met Sadie yet as she was still on her honeymoon.
But it was always good to know the competition.
Especially since no one knew yet that Elanah planned on staying in Barrington.
Permanently.
Chapter 10 – Curve Ball
Claire Barrington was calm as she drove a golf cart to the hotel to see Elanah. In a fit of nostalgia she had pulled out her family tree and studied the names. After looking at her lineage she was shocked to discover that Elanah had lied to her, and she couldn’t countenance lies.
According to her family tree, there was no way she could resemble Sean Kirkman.
Why would Elanah lie about that? At first she thought Elanah had just tried to ingratiate herself because she was the mayor’s wife, but Claire dismissed that idea. There was another reason that Elanah was hiding. She felt anger sweep her again. She’d get to the bottom of this.
She skidded to a halt at the edge of East Road. She could see Elanah at the red barn, touching the wood with reverence and putting her fingers to her lips. Claire felt slightly ashamed. She was only thinking about herself. She mustn’t forget that Elanah had done a lot for this town over four centuries ago, and continued to help now.
She waited until Elanah began walking back before crossing East Road and waiting for her. When Elanah saw her, she smiled and waved, genuinely pleased to see her. Claire waved back and motioned for her to get in. “I’ll take you back.”
“Thank you,” Elanah said, settling herself on the seat. She smelled like lavender and sunshine, and it reminded Claire of her mother and her childhood.
Claire checked herself. She was too whimsical about this young woman. Still, she had caught Elanah in a lie, and it demeaned her in her eyes.
Elanah’s face went from smiling to concern as she felt more than saw a change in Claire’s attitude. “Is something wrong, Claire?”
“I should say so,” Claire said a bit stiffly. “You lied to me, Elanah. In a fit of sentimentality I checked my family tree, curious to see who would have known you at the time.”
Elanah paled and stared at her hands. Lines of anxiety appeared by her eyes.
Malice: A Barrington County Novel Page 10