Changeling: An Appalachian Magic Novel Book 2 (Appalachian Magic Series)
Page 7
“Yeah, she likes it that way.” Skye pictured Mom lying on the couch devouring books the way some women savored chocolate. “Plus, Mom works long hours at her florist shop.” Skye swept a hand at the dozens of plants sitting forlornly throughout the room, all in various stages of vegetative decomposition. “As you can see, I didn’t inherit her green thumb. If she ever comes to visit, I’ll have to replace all the plants she gave me.”
“Books and flowers only take you so far. She’s in the prime of her life. I would think she’d have gentlemen friends.”
Skye shrugged. “I think she soured on men since the divorce.”
“Oh, I see.” Claribel nodded, a knowing look on her face.
“See what?”
“She prefers women.”
Skye nearly choked on a large meatball. “No, that’s not what I meant.” She downed more soda. “She’s a loner, period.”
“If you say so.”
Skye groaned inwardly. Obviously, Claribel either didn’t believe her, or thought she was naive. Whatever.
“You know, Skye, I really appreciate your work at the store. I’m aware Glenna hasn’t been pulling her fair share.”
“Why do you keep her?” Skye asked curiously.
Claribel waved a hand dismissively. “She’s the daughter of an old family friend. Anyway, Delia and I were talking today and we decided to offer you a supervisory position if you’re interested. I know you have classes so I promise it won’t be any more hours on your schedule.”
A burst of pride blossomed in her chest, then wilted. Glenna and some of the other part time workers might not like it.
“What, exactly, would my new duties be?”
Claribel chuckled. “Don’t worry. We won’t make you give orders to Glenna and the others. Mainly we want someone we can trust to open and close the shop if one of us is unable to be there. Maybe handle some office paperwork occasionally. Of course, we’ll pay you extra. Are you interested?”
No doubt she could use the money. “Thanks, Miss Claribel. I accept.”
Claribel put on a pair of white cotton gloves, then reached into her oversized velvet patchwork handbag and pulled out a set of keys. “We were hoping you’d say yes so I brought along an extra set of keys to the shop.”
Skye took them and nodded at Claribel’s gloved hands. “Are you cold in here? I turned up the heat tonight for you.”
“Old age and arthritis,” she said with a shrug. “My hands and feet are always cold.”
Skye pocketed the keys. This proved they trusted her, now would be the right time to do the same. She got up from the table and went to the living room where she’d put the hagstone. It was surprisingly warm to her touch and her fingers closed over it possessively. She turned and saw Claribel had followed her. Skye bit her lip to keep from laughing.
Claribel was performing a bizarre, shuffling dance to music only she could hear. Arms raised, her hands fluttered in the air to some invisible melody. She had pulled a fairy wand from her bun and waved it in the air like a music conductor. Her gray curls were loose and flowing, her eyes closed, her tiny feet took mincing turns.
“Miss Claribel, are you okay?” Skye managed to say evenly.
She blinked in surprise. “Oh, sorry. I swear I can feel Fae energy here. Do you sense it too?”
Skye hesitated, the hagstone a warming presence in her hand. No, she couldn’t do it. Sharing the hagstone might send Claribel right over that edge from eccentric to certifiable.
7
Blue Energy
“The key,” Finvorra repeated, hand outstretched.
Kheelan sighed and laid the key in his Guardian’s hand, tried to brace himself for what was to come. The punishment would be severe. Reading their secret texts was no minor infraction. Just last month Finvorra had taken away his sense of sight for two days for not having enough fairy ointment of crushed four-leaf clovers and morning dew on hand. The time before that, Finvorra had made him mute an entire week for daring to complain about his workload. Kheelan steadied his face to a stoic mask and kept it carefully blank. It was best to show no fear; he wouldn’t give them that satisfaction.
Finvorra rubbed his double chin, his bloodshot eyes held a malevolent gleam. It hadn’t taken him long to deteriorate his human body, thanks to whiskey, cigars, and massive quantities of junk food.
“I should report ye to the Seelie Court’s Council; let them decide yer proper punishment.”
Kheelan stared back, refusing to show emotion. But inside his stomach churned at the words. He’d only been reported once before to the Council. At age sixteen, he’d foolishly hoarded his cash, bought a motorcycle, and taken off, intending to ride and hide from his captors.
He’d learned there was no hiding from the Fae. Within two days, the branding tattoo on his hand sent out a homing signal and they hauled him in for sentencing. For two months he was forced to work in an underground cave with the tommyknockers. No sunlight, no contact with anyone of his kind, only mushrooms and water for sustenance, and constant shoveling. He thought his back would be permanently stooped from the ordeal. Even now, the sight of mushrooms made him nauseous.
“Well, what do ye have to say for yerself? Ye have no business snooping in our records with yer manky, boggin’ human hands.”
Oh, he was a fine one to speak of filthy hands with his sour whiskey breath and greasy hair. Kheelan wanted nothing more than to spit in that hateful face.
When he spoke, though, his tone was neutral. “I was curious, that’s all.” He shrugged as if unconcerned with the consequences. “Besides, I was sent here to find out what’s going on with the pixie disappearances. I thought there might be something in the Fae records to help with that.”
“Liar.” Finvorra’s voice shook with anger and his face was mottled. “We’ve been here almost a month now and ye haven’t found out anything yet.”
“I’ve narrowed down the area where they’ve gone missing and initiated contact with a human. I’m confident I’ll learn more in the next day or two.”
“Ye had better.” Finvorra raised a fist in warning. “Samhain is only eight days away. Get that information and get it quick. If the Unseelie Fae have learned our battle plans from the pixies, we’re at a serious disadvantage. Is that what ye want? If ye think we’re hard to live with, imagine if the Unseelie Court gets the upper hand in our realm.”
Kheelan almost smiled. Finvorra wasn’t going to turn him in. If he failed in his mission, his Guardian failed along with him. The Seelie Court Council would realize Finvorra was unfit and incompetent as a Guardian once he opened that foul mouth.
Finvorra smirked. “Don’t think I have to turn ye in to the Council for punishment. As ye know, I have me own methods.” Kheelan braced himself.
Finvorra raised an arm and pointed a long, crooked finger at Kheelan’s knees. A bolt of blue light exploded from his fingertip.
He was on fire. Every nerve from kneecaps to toes pulsated with excruciating pain. Kheelan collapsed to the floor and grabbed his knees with his hands. They burned at the contact and blisters formed on his palms. He wouldn’t look at his legs, horrified at what he might find. Finvorra had gone completely mad. Kheelan forced himself to take long, deep breaths and closed his eyes. The smell of burnt flesh, his flesh, sickened him.
Finvorra laughed in sadistic delight.
“The fun has just begun,” his Guardian promised.
Another bolt of the blue electricity hit his lower back. The initial burst of pain passed, leaving him dizzy. His ears tingled from a faint jangle of bells, as if he were falling down a well and the sound far above him. More fairies? Before he could decide if this was good or bad, he gratefully slipped into unconsciousness as the pain rolled away.
Kheelan awoke to find a familiar green-faced elemental sprite with oblique eyes and pointy ears grinning at him in anticipation.
Hefeydd. Kheelan couldn’t have been happier to see his old friend, until he saw Ealdun also appear from behind Hefeydd.
With the regained consciousness, the pain also returned, worse than before, and Kheelan was unable to suppress a groan. Bile rose in his throat and his stomach heaved.
“Looks like a bad case of the collywobbles,” Hefeydd chimed.
“Believe me, it’s a lot more serious than a stomach ache,” Kheelan managed to grind out.
“We know laddie, helps a-coming,” one of them said.
Kheelan rose up on his right elbow and looked around the room. “Where’s Finvorra?”
His Guardian stood frozen solid, still and unblinking as a block of ice, a cruel smile on his face and finger pointed to deliver yet another blow. “What did you do to him?” Kheelan managed a twisted smile, hoping the damage to Finvorra was permanent.
Hefeydd gave a vague wave of his hand. “Just a wee immobilization spell until help arrives.”
Kheelan lay back down on the floor, weak with pain. The fire in his back and legs was unceasing. This time he fought blacking out, afraid if he closed his eyes, his old childhood friends would disappear. A terrible thought invaded the pain fog. Perhaps he was hallucinating about help coming. He hadn’t been with Hefeydd and Ealdun in over ten years, not since he was about twelve years old.
“Ack, here she be Kheelan,” Ealdun said, patting Kheelan’s shoulder.
The air shimmered and stirred and a refreshing draft, like a spring meadow breeze, blew across his burning body. He picked up the scent of lily of the valley and knew who had come.
Annwynn.
She materialized slowly. First came the glowing outline of her human-sized body and her mass of multi-colored, waist-length hair. Next, her raspberry wings that spanned her body from shoulders to mid-thigh were visible, and then he beheld all the details of her opalescent splendor. Annwynn’s violet eyes focused on him, soft with sympathy. Kheelan was ashamed of lying there, in pain and stinking of burnt flesh, even if she brought relief. Pride was the one thing he held onto all his life, through all his trials. Something he refused to let them kill.
Annwynn knelt beside him. “Kheelan.” As she said the words, her fairy breath was a balm of comfort. She’d always had this effect on him, ever since he was a child, the first Guardian in his memory. If only she had been the last. The Seelie Court Council had removed Annwynn from her post, claiming she’d become too attached and soft with the young human.
He struggled to sit up, but she placed a cold hand on his shoulder.
“What’s Finvorra done now?” She scanned his body, her violet eyes smoldering with purplish-black sparks when they reached his burnt legs. “Hefeydd, fetch me some aloe and feverfew. Ye do still keep herbs here don’t ye, Kheelan?”
He nodded, face perspiring with the effort to withhold a whimper. Hefeydd and Ealdun scampered below, then return with the needed medicine and a large wooden bowl.
Annwynn hastily threw the herbs in the bowl and produced a willow wand from her diaphanous silver gown. She muttered words unintelligible to Kheelan, Fae words, and stirred the concoction with the wand.
Kheelan kept his eyes fixed on Finvorra, wondering how much longer his Guardian would remain frozen.
“Don’t worry about him,” said Annwynn, never looking up from her ministrations. “The Council is finally starting to realize his cruel treatment of ye can only hinder yer investigation in the pixie murders. I bring news to Finvorra from Queen Corrigan’s assistant that he cease at once.”
Kheelan kept silent. Grateful though he was, he realized the Council acted in its own best interest and not out of any concern for his personal well-being. He was here to do a job for them.
Annwynn’s cold hands on his burned calves brought welcome relief. He breathed easier as she continued smoothing his skin with the aloe salve.
“She’ll have ye good as new in a trice,” Ealdun said in his cheery brogue.
Hefeydd wiped Kheelan’s face with something resembling a moss sponge. Its tangy, grassy scent helped clear his fuzzy brain, the tartness more bracing than ice water. Slowly, he sat up and watched Annwynn finish her treatment. When done, the burnt, blistering skin had transformed to a soft pink. Tender, but more uncomfortable than painful. He breathed a sigh of relief. He had too much to do over the next few days to be stuck in bed incapacitated.
“Thank you,” he told them.
Annwynn pierced him with those purple eyes. “Just because ye can’t see us doesn’t mean we are gone from yer life. But we cannot come to yer aid unless Queen Corrigan and the Council give us permission to interfere.”
How quickly he could be swept up in her kindness and the sympathy of his old friends. But no, it was too little too late. He couldn’t entirely trust their motives.
“What did ye do to make him lose his temper like that?” Hefeydd asked.
It would be so easy to tell them. Indeed, he felt compelled to spill his guts. Whether this compulsion came from a fae spell or psychological manipulation on their part, he didn’t know.
“I read the Fae Records of Birth.” A half lie, but maybe it would be enough to satisfy them.
“But they aren’t fer human eyes,” said Ealdun, clearly shocked. “I didn’t think a human could even read them.”
Annwynn watched Kheelan intently. “They can if they know to use a hagstone and fairy ointment.” Hefeydd slapped his knee and chuckled. “I always knew ye were a clever laddie.”
Kheelan’s dark eyes focused steadily on Annwynn’s violet ones, careful not to break contact. “And I found out you lied to me. My parents never died in a car wreck, they’re alive and well. So is the Fae child you exchanged in my place.”
She nodded, face devoid of guilt. “The Fae cast a glamour spell on him so he would look like ye physically. I’d hoped ye would never find out the truth. Ye must believe I told ye yer parents were dead for yer own peace of mind. I didn’t want ye longing for them when such hope was foolish.”
Kheelan hardened his heart. He would believe nothing they said. All he wanted was his freedom. And if that meant using them as he had been used, then so be it.
He forced a smile. “As you say, Annwynn. I’m thankful Finvorra’s powers will be temporarily curtailed. That should allow me to finish up my work in time to benefit the Seelie Court.” Not to mention it would help his personal quest. Kheelan stood cautiously, pleased to note he was able to walk with a minimum of pain. He grabbed his duster jacket from the sofa and took one last look at Finvorra’s frozen form and the three fae who watched him with glowing eyes.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a certain human to interview.”
8
Fizzles
After a few more ditzy dances and fairy chants, Claribel left. Skye gathered up the dirty dishes and started putting up leftovers. A sudden knock at the door almost made her drop the spaghetti container she was fixing to stuff in the fridge.
Her stomach took a funny dive, like plunging down a rollercoaster blindfolded. It might be Kheelan coming to see if she’d used the hagstone. She really wanted to talk to someone tonight about the fairies she’d glimpsed through it. Dinner with Claribel had pretty much been a bust on that score.
Skye eagerly opened the door, expecting Kheelan. Instead, there stood Tanner with an arm draped across the door frame and wearing that lopsided grin that made all the girls melt inside. Any other time, she would have swooned to see him, but tonight she wanted to talk to Kheelan.
“Oh. It’s you.” She looked behind his shoulder, checking to see if Michael was with him.
Tanner’s grin lost a little of its wattage. “Glad to see you too,” he said dryly.
“Come in, I guess.” Skye turned and headed to the living room. Major awkward. She didn’t know how to act around him since the embarrassing Big Reveal. When would she learn to keep her mouth shut?
Tanner plopped on the sofa and put his feet up on the coffee table. She sat across from him, striving to appe
ar equally as casual and collected. “Where’s Michael?”
“I wanted to talk to you alone. About, you know, the other night.”
Skye hid her face in her hands and groaned. “I’d rather not.”
“C’mon, Skye. Don’t go all shy on me.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who made a fool of yourself.”
“Stop it. I came to tell—”
A headlight beam shone through the window and Skye jumped up. She went to the curtain and parted it.
“Expecting somebody?”
“Sort of.” The landlord and her son got out of their car with bags of groceries. Drats. Still no Kheelan.
“A guy?”
Tanner sounded a little funny. “Yeah.” Skye reluctantly sat back down in the chair. “It wasn’t him though.”
“Don’t tell me it’s that guy from the shop.”
She snapped her fingers. “That’s right. I forgot you met him a few nights ago at closing time.”
Tanner wasn’t smiling anymore. “About this Kyle dude—”
“His name is Kheelan.”
“But you said his name—”
“I thought it was Kyle at first, but it’s another guy who looks almost exactly like him.”
Tanner’s face scrunched in confusion. “A twin brother?”
Skye threw up her hands. “Long story.”
“I’m listening.”
“Don’t you have a football meeting or a date or something?” Skye couldn’t figure out what he was doing here.
He put his hands behind his head and settled in even more.
“Nope. I’m all yours.”
Bad choice of words. Skye gulped and looked away, hoping he wouldn’t notice her red face. The curse of a fair complexion. “Why do you care?”
“Because I saw the way he looked at you. Kinda creepy.”
“Kheelan’s not creepy.” She got up and started pacing in irritation. The guy had enough to problems without having his own kind mock him. Tanner had every advantage in life; great parents, good looks, athletic talent and a truckload of charm. He could afford a little kindness.