by Kimbra Swain
Continuing to back away from Dylan, my feet brushed the roots of a large oak tree. I pressed my back to it and felt the way to the Otherworld open up. Just before I stepped through, Dylan grabbed my wrists, holding me in place. My power released sending a rush of cold into his hands. They ignited melting the ice.
“No, you won’t hurt me,” he said calmly.
Surrounding us, the dark cloaks of the Sanhedrin appeared. Jeremiah wore his hood back so I could see his face. They watched, but did not speak.
“Let me go. They will kill me,” I begged him. The cold tears traced my cheeks and dripped off my chin. Dylan’s worn hands felt warm and inviting. The urge that I’d had so many times to fall into him hit me again. He was my foil. A dark, warm goodness that I craved.
“You’ve done nothing wrong. They are not here to execute you, Grace. Please, don’t go. You don’t want to go back to your father,” he said reasoning with me. “Let me take you home, and I will try to explain everything. Levi and Winnie will be waiting on you. I made sure they got out of the forest and back to the truck safely.”
Something inside of me cracked, and my chest ached with pain. I yanked my wrists away from him releasing my connection to the way. It closed behind me, as I leaned on the tree. He was right. I wanted to go home to Levi, my bard, and that sweet little girl. Nestor was awake, and I wanted to see him again. Dylan watched me struggle with his sapphire eyes reflecting the moonlight.
The forest held its breath waiting for me to decide. He stepped toward me again with no space left between us. His fingers brushed my cheek as he cupped it in his warm hand.
The ice queen melted away, and I stood before him as Grace Ann Bryant. Trailer park queen.
I swallowed as the tension between us lessened. “There’s my Grace,” he said as he leaned in to kiss me. Sidestepping him, I backed away.
“I’m not your Grace,” I said. “Dylan, you can’t just die and come back thinking that the lies would just go away. Everything is not copacetic.” I stomped my foot to reinforce my resolve. Truth be known, if he kept this up, I wouldn’t be able to resist him.
“Copacetic! Grace, you are the most southern, non-southern woman I’ve ever known,” he laughed.
I pointed at Amanda Capps who now held her child. “I’m not done with you,” I said. She nodded knowingly, but continued to nuzzle her beautiful child.
“Grace, wait!” Dylan said as I turned away.
“No, I’m going home!” I said stomping away.
“I’ll be by in a little while, and you can make me some breakfast,” he laughed as I pitched my hissy fit.
I flipped the bird a bird as I marched off into the woods. Hearing his laughter floating through the trees, I smiled, knowing that eventually I’d forgive him. But not today.
Once out of sight, I touched an ash tree and jumped back to the woods just outside the trailer park.
Running down the street to the trailer, Levi bounded out to meet me. He hugged me so tight that I it hurt, “Let go, Dublin, before you crack my ribs.”
“He’s alive! Grace, it’s awesome!” he said.
“When he said that, he made sure you got out of the forest, I didn’t know he actually showed himself to you,” I muttered.
“Where is he? Why isn’t he with you?” he asked.
“Because I’m pissed. He could have fucking told me he wasn’t really dead,” I said pushing way from Levi. As we went up the steps to the trailer, I asked, “How’s Winnie?”
“She was scared, and she’s asleep in my room. Bethany is in there with her,” he said.
I groaned. “At least, she’s okay.”
“Lysander?”
“Aswang,” I said. “Dead Aswang.”
“Ew,” he replied. “Amanda?”
“Alive and well with her child. Lysander was holding the kid hostage so she would do what he wanted,” I said.
“What did he want?”
“Me. My father’s kingdom. Hell, I’m not sure,” I said as I plopped down in my recliner. Bethany walked into the living room with us.
“Thank you so much, Grace. I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost her. I’ve got to clean up my act. Do you mind if she stays here? She’s afraid to go in my house, and she thinks Levi is her guardian angel,” she asked.
“Sure. He definitely saved her,” I said.
“Oh, Levi, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you,” Bethany said.
I started to open my mouth when sweet Levi gave me the sourest face this side of a granny apple. Clamping my mouth shut, I grinned at him.
“No need, Bethany. She is a sweetheart, and I’d do anything for her,” he said.
“Goodnight,” she said as she left.
Levi sat down on the couch. “You have to forgive him. Seems to me that…”
“Enough. I’m not talking about it,” I said rushing to my bedroom.
“Grace, come on,” he said as I shut the door.
My emotions overwhelmed me, and once again I found myself sitting behind my closed door on the floor crying. The cold queen inside of me did not stir. I tried piecing together all the details of the entire adventure. “Nestor!” I said grabbing my coat.
As I went to the truck, Levi stopped at the front door and asked, “Where are you going?”
“Med center,” I replied.
The pickup rumbled to life, and I rushed to the side of the only blood relative I had on this earth.
Laying my head down on the bedside, Nestor stroked my hair as I told him the whole story. “Did you know he wasn’t dead?” I asked him.
“No. However, I did know that he wasn’t human. Are you angry with me?” he asked.
“No. I’m tired of being angry,” I said.
“You are the Queen of the Exiles now. You should go to the church and meet everyone,” he suggested.
“So that’s the deal with the church?” I said.
“Yes. I’m sure Bro. Rayburn would love to have you visit. Besides Levi could find himself a nice girl there. In fact, Rayburn has a daughter that is about Levi’s age,” he said.
“Well, considering preacher’s daughters are always the most fun, I believe that might be exactly what he needs,” I said.
“He’s a brave and unique boy,” he said.
“Man,” I corrected.
“Yes, young man,” he said smiling. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were saving him for yourself.”
“You know better though,” I said.
“Grace, you have to forgive Dylan,” he said.
“I know that, but I don’t know how you build anything based on a lie,” I said.
“Then don’t build it on a lie. You were once friends, and I think he’d like for you continue working with him. There are more things he hasn’t told you, but I’ll let him explain everything. Bartender-Patron privilege,” he grinned.
“At this point, I don’t know if I want to know,” I said. “When are they letting you out of here?”
“Probably tomorrow,” he said.
“You can come stay with me until we get the bar rebuilt,” I said.
“That’s not necessary. I have somewhere to stay,” he grinned.
There was a soft knock at the door, and Mable, the gossip fly, from the grocery store stuck her head in. “Oh, hello Grace. I’ll come back later,” she said.
“No, Mable, please come in. I was just leaving,” I said bending over to kiss him on the forehead. I winked at him as I shut the door behind me.
I walked down the hall clutching my jacket and passed a familiar figure in the waiting room. “Remy, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“You told me to come here and watch over him. I saw you come in earlier, and I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he said.
“Despite everything that has happened, I suppose I’m right as rain,” I said.
Something felt off about Remy, and I stepped away from him. “You knew he wasn’t dead,” I said.
“I knew that he wa
s the Phoenix and that it was possible that he would return,” he said.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
“You know why. I want you to give me another chance, Grace. If you can forgive him for lying to you about who he is, why can’t you forgive me for not telling you about my wife?” he begged.
“I forgive you, but I don’t trust you. I may forgive him, but the day I trust him like I did before will be a cold day in hell,” I said.
“I’m sure you could arrange that,” he laughed.
“I suppose I could. Shit, Shady Grove pretty much is hell,” I said. Thoughts of leaving entered my brain again, but I knew I’d made the commitment to stay.
“I understand, but know this, Grace Ann Bryant, I’m not going to let you go,” he grinned as he turned to walk out.
“You are barking up the wrong tree, Remy,” I called after him.
“Woof,” he grinned as he walked out the door. Seriously.
A wave of exhaustion hit me, and I decided I better get to bed. I promised to go to church in the morning. I just hoped I had something to wear that didn’t look like a prostitute. Driving home, I tried to focus on the road. Thankfully it wasn’t a long drive, because I was dead on my feet.
Levi was lying on the couch watching the television when I came in.
“How’s Nestor?” he asked.
“Great! Miss Mable from the grocery store is looking after him,” I said.
He cocked his head sideway for a moment as he thought about my statement, then said, “Ohhhhh!”
“Yeah,” I replied laying my jacket over a bar stool. “Church in the morning?”
“You claimed us all. I don’t think we have a choice now,” he said.
“Yes, I did,” I sighed.
The next morning, I couldn’t remember taking my clothes off or lying down. I was just dog tired. Levi and Winnie were talking in the other room. She was explaining to him that she couldn’t go to church with us because she went to church at the Church of God.
“Jesus would be disappointed if I didn’t show up,” she explained.
He laughed at her, but conceded that she was right. I smelled bacon and coffee. Dragging myself out of bed, I put on a bathrobe and padded in my bare feet into the kitchen.
“Morning, Aunt Grace!” Winnie exclaimed as she rushed over to hug me.
“You okay, sweetheart?” I asked her.
“I’m fine, because I have a guardian angel. Levi made us disappear, and we hid from the bad man,” she said.
“Levi is a hero,” I said.
“Yes, he’s wonderful,” she cooed. I turned to look at him, and he blushed deeply. Damn. Can’t have those thoughts. I’ve got enough to repent for as it is.
“Morning, Grace,” he muttered.
“Morning, Dublin. Thanks for the breakfast,” I said. “Let me finish it up. Go sit with your little admirer over there before she heads off to thank Jesus for you.”
He grunted and left me with the pan of almost cooked bacon. Using a fork, I poked at it, but kept a constant watch on the road leading into the trailer park. Dylan threatened to come to breakfast, but I wasn’t ready to talk things out with him.
We ate breakfast, listening to Winnie chatter about church and school. She avoided any conversation about what happened the night before in the forest. She was resilient, so I decided to follow her lead.
Levi walked her back over to Bethany’s trailer as I picked through my closet looking for something to wear. The sun had returned, and I knew it might be a little warm today. The majority of our humid days had passed. We would sail straight into winter skipping fall altogether.
I found a burgundy maxi dress, but it had spaghetti straps, so I added a jean jacket. Looking through my shoes, I found a pair of brown booties with a small heel on it. I got dressed and added a few pieces of golden jewelry. The sleeves on the jacket were long and covered my tattoo. If this church wasn’t what I thought it was, at least I could try to cover my marked skin.
I was putting on earrings at the kitchen counter when Levi exited his bedroom in a pair of brown slacks and a light blue button up shirt. I recognized the shirt from the ensemble he wore to the hearing at the courthouse. “You look very nice, Levi,” I said. He looked at me and grimaced. “What’s wrong?”
“Well, I want to make a good impression,” he said.
I giggled. “You could meet your soul mate in the next hour or two. I can understand how daunting that could be for a young man like you,” I teased.
“Grace, please,” he whined.
“Levi, you are gorgeous. Shirt on, shirt off. Trust me, it doesn’t matter what shirt you wear, you look great,” I said.
He blushed and grabbed the keys to the truck. “We are going to be late if we don’t get going,” he said.
As we rode, he gripped the steering wheel like it was going to fall off the truck. “Levi, you gotta chill out.”
“Heh,” he muttered, and I realized the double meaning.
“That was pretty good, especially if I’d thought of it that way,” I said admitting my innocence.
When we pulled into the parking lot, Levi parked and looked at me. “What’s inside those doors?”
“Hell, if I know,” I said. “I’ve never been in a church.” Suddenly, I was just as nervous as he was.
“Can’t get blessed in the parking lot,” he said climbing out of the truck. I slid out of my side and straightened the skirt of my dress. It came down to my knees, but I was nervous it might fly up or something. I didn’t want to moon the Baptists.
Rounding the end of the truck, Levi waited on me to join him, but his eyes were fixed across the parking lot. I followed his gaze to Mr. Sandy Hair in a navy suit standing across the lot from us. He wore a familiar leather jacket instead of a suit coat. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the two of us. He nodded to Levi, and Levi walked toward the front doors of the church.
“Wait up,” I said.
“No, Grace. Talk to him,” he said over his shoulder. I wanted to cuss him, but figured that I didn’t want the Almighty to strike me down if He existed.
Dylan approached me and stopped several feet away. He propped his hands on his hips and leaned to one side. “Never thought I’d see the day you’d set foot in this church.”
“Well, I was told hell froze over. I figured I better show up,” I quipped. His stunning smile stretched across his face and his blue eyes glittered.
“You are right, Grace. I should have told you. No excuses,” he said.
“You aren’t supposed to concede to my argument,” I said. “Makes it hard to be mad at you.”
“You aren’t really mad at me anyhow,” he said.
“Trust me, my anger is real. Don’t doubt that,” I said. His face wrinkled, realizing I was serious.
“What can I do to make it right?” he asked.
“I don’t know, Dylan.”
He walked toward me, offering me his hand, “Well, take me to church, Grace Ann, and I’ll repent of all my sins.”
My lip quivered as I shook my head. He stepped closer and whispered, “You don’t have to forgive me right now. I’m willing to earn it.” When I finally looked back up to him, I saw the sincerity in his eyes. He dropped his hand, and his shoulders slumped in defeat. As he walked up the steps to the church, I stepped quickly to join him on the steps.
“Dylan, I don’t want you to give up on me,” I said.
“That’s not possible, Grace. I’ll give you whatever space you need. But the day I died in front of that courthouse, the last vision I had was of you fighting Levi to get to me. He easily overpowered you, but you struggled against him. He dragged you away from me. The last sound I heard was you screaming my name. I thought that no matter what happened that you would just be happy to see me alive,” he said never looking at me.
The pain of those moments refreshed in my memory. It was agonizing to see his life wink out. I swallowed my grief and said, “I am so glad you are alive.”
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nbsp; His eyes met mine, but they did not brighten. “Come on, it’s time you knew everything.” He opened the door, holding it for me. “After you, Gloriana.”
I paused before I stepped into the church feeling the subtle movement of magical power. “You sure I’m not going to spontaneously combust if I go in there?”
“Combustion isn’t that bad,” he quipped. My jaw dropped, and his smile threatened the edges of his mouth.
“Well, I never,” I said stepping into the church.
A bright light flashed as I stepped inside. I felt Dylan’s hand rest on my lower back. I hadn’t moved from the doorway, so he pressed into me to shut the door. I felt magic seal the door behind us. As my eyes focused, we stood in a grove of towering oak and ash trees.
Matthew Rayburn turned from the people he was speaking to and smiled in our direction. “Grace, I’m so happy to see you here. Welcome back, Dylan,” he said approaching us.
He wore a traditional Druid white robe with a loose hood over his head. Across his waist, a golden fabric belt rested with embroidered Celtic knots. His face was pleasant and inviting. He looked back across the grove as I stared at the people speaking in groups around the trees. Each gathering turned to look at me. I tried to step back, but Dylan forced me forward with his hand. I swatted at his hand, and he pulled it back in surrender.
“Welcome to The Grove,” Rayburn said waving to the gathering. “Please come meet everyone.”
“Druids,” I mumbled as Dylan chuckled moving closer to me again. I elbowed him in the ribs, thinking maybe he would back off, but he didn’t.
I knew the faces of the surrounding people. However, until this moment, I wasn’t aware of the fairy folk who graced my everyday life. Betty and Luther. Kathrine Frist. Amanda Capps and her son. Troy Maynard. Brittany Arizona. Plus, many others that I only knew in passing. Levi stood to the side with a young girl about his age, Kadence Rayburn.
“It’s okay, Grace,” Dylan whispered behind me. He wasn’t touching me, but his breath grazed my ear.
“Put your hand back,” I said.
He laughed, “Why?”
“Just in case I pass out,” I said nervously.
His warm hand rested again on my lower back. He stepped forward which made me move with him, as he led me into the grove. We followed the Druid to the center of the circling trees. He placed his hands to the sky and said, “We are here to honor the gods.”