Gossamer

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Gossamer Page 17

by Pizziltola, Renita


  Grant’s temper flared as he glared at her, then his expression slipped into surprise as he saw her tangled in roots. “Did you do that?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “What happened right before she went down?”

  “I was scared, and then I got angry. Really angry. They were going to hurt you, and it made me mad.” His face softened. “Next thing I knew, these tree roots wrapped around her feet and pulled her down, but it didn’t stop there. They just kept coming. It looks like they have stopped now, though.”

  “You shouldn’t have worried about me, only about yourself. What happens to me isn’t important.” He looked back at Brighid. “I guess it’s good you got mad. I can’t believe how easily you manipulated your element.”

  “I did what?”

  “That was you, Kylie.” He pointed to the ground. “I figured you were connected to earth when I noticed your oak tree necklace and then hearing about your dreams and the way the forest spoke to you. But, I have to say, for someone who has never even stepped foot in Tír na nÓg, that’s impressive.”

  I stood there stunned into silence. Grant smiled at me as if I had just brought home an ‘A’ on my report card. I chewed nervously on my lower lip.

  “It’s okay, Kylie. You will understand it more later, but for right now, it saved you. It saved us. That’s what matters.” He reached for my hand and led me to the portal, “I need to get Conor. These two aren’t going anywhere.” He gave them both a look of revulsion.

  We crossed through, and instantly the world seemed dull and lifeless. It lacked the brilliance of Tír na nÓg. I found it almost gloomy. By this time, Conor sat, his eyes open, holding his head in his hands.

  “Kylie, you’re okay? We were worried about you. I thought Grant might lose it when he could sense the danger you were in.”

  I looked at Grant, who shifted his weight and turned his head, unable to meet my gaze.

  “I’m glad to see you’re okay too, Conor. You were out cold. I didn’t expect you to come to this quick.”

  The boys exchanged some sort of silent communication. “Kylie, you were in there for over an hour.”

  My mouth fell open. “But it only felt like ten minutes at the most.” Then I remembered, time slowed in Tír na nÓg. Over an hour? That was insane.

  “Longest hour of my life,” Grant muttered. “But, she had everything under control,” he boasted to Conor. “Laid them both out, while I just stood around and watched.”

  My cheeks warmed.

  “It wasn’t like that.” I looked at my feet.

  “You clearly did something right because here you are.”

  Conor grunted as he pushed himself up. “Now let’s get me to a healer. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

  We returned through the portal and suddenly, like Dorothy reaching Oz, the world turned to color again. This time I enjoyed the blissful moment. An emerald carpet of grass padded the ground. A cerulean sky blanketed the earth. Pure, crisp air filled my lungs. The fresh smell of rain tickled my nose. A cool breeze stroked my skin. The sound of trees rustling, birds chirping and water flowing created a sweet symphony for my ears. I stood in paradise–a flawless, beautiful wonderland. My body harmonized with the surroundings, and I was in ecstasy. A part of me, I never knew was missing, had made its homecoming, completing me.

  Conor let out a low whistle. “You weren’t kidding. Kylie did take them out.” He walked to where Brighid lay imprisoned and shook his head. “You, of all people.”

  She gave him a fierce glare, “Cut these stupid things off me or–”

  “Or what?” He smirked. “You will harm me with witty insults and quick comebacks?” He laughed. “You’re staying right there until we find someone else willing to deal with you.”

  “What about Patrick? He’s hurt.” Her voice suddenly filled with concern, but after everything I had just witnessed, I didn’t buy it.

  “Now you are worried about your brother?” Grant asked.

  Brother. Now that was a seriously messed up family, it almost made Lexie’s seem normal.

  “Why did you do it?” Conor asked her.

  “Like you need to ask,” she spat back.

  “Liam?”

  “Who else?”

  Liam, the prince. The prince I was supposed to marry. My gaze darted to Grant and I knew right away he was in on it. He searched my expression, probably trying to gauge how much I knew, but as he stared, he seemed to understand I knew more than he’d like.

  “Grant, you knew.” It was a statement not a question, and caused him to shift his eyes from mine. “This is why I’m important?” I asked dryly. “So I can marry some guy?”

  He shook his head. “It’s not like that.”

  “Isn’t it?” I glared back.

  “We need to get Conor and Patrick to a healer. We can talk after we know they’re okay.” He looked like it was a conversation he was none too eager to have and found the opportunity to postpone it a huge relief.

  “Fine, let’s get them to a healer.”

  Grant scooped up Patrick with ease. Conor still looked pretty banged up but he managed to keep up with us as we walked away, leaving Brighid screaming behind us and giving her the last words.

  “You two are destined for misery,” she yelled as we continued to walk. “One of you is supposed to marry Liam and the other works for him, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on, it’s written all over your faces. You think Liam won’t notice?”

  Grant had halted with these last words.

  “I never figured you for a traitor, Grant.”

  He closed his eyes. The muscles in his jaw tightened. His entire body tensed as he clearly became enraged. Shaking his head slightly, he took a deep breath, exhaled and walked, never once meeting my gaze.

  Chapter 16

  The walk wasn’t far, and led us to a small and unique, to say the least, village. It had several cottages spread throughout. It was like walking through a faery tale, seeing as nothing appeared modern, but at the same rate it had a lot of spunk.

  The cottages were interesting, each with roofs coming to a point but never symmetrical. Sometimes it made me feel like I leaned too far to one side, but it wasn’t me that was crooked–it was the cottage.

  A multitude of windows adorned each home, but no two frames were painted the same color. The cottage doors had uneven frames and several even had a smaller door within the larger door, painted pink and orange, nothing you would normally expect to find on a house. I felt like I had fallen down a rabbit hole instead of stepping through a portal.

  We saw a few people while we walked. They nodded in respect to Grant and Conor and eyed me with curiosity. Finally, we arrived at a small purple cottage with one yellow and one green framed window and a pink door. Grant raised his hand to knock, but the door swung open before his hand made contact. He immediately cocked a grin at the woman standing in front of him.

  “I wondered when you’d show up.” She smiled back at Grant, the corner of her eyes crinkling as she did so.

  The woman wasn’t quite my height, but stood with her shoulders back and head lifted. Though she smiled, age lined her face and it looked as if she spent a fair amount of time in the sun. Her quick, sharp movements implied she didn’t waste any time and didn’t like for hers to be wasted in return. She seemed a force to be reckoned with.

  “This must be Kyla,” she said with a smile as she gave me a once over.

  I smiled back politely. She seemed friendly enough but I didn’t think many would cross her.

  “Yes.” He glanced at me and introduced her in return. “And this is Nanny.”

  She shook my hand, the softness of her touch surprised me. Underneath her firm grip lay silky skin were I’d expected calloused and rough.

  “You can call me Kylie,” I said.

  “Kylie it is then. Well, come in, come in. What happened to Patrick?” She moved to the side and motioned us in. Grant stepped in first, still carrying
the young boy. Conor allowed me to pass then closed the door behind us.

  “He fell.” Grant offered.

  She gave him a knowing glance then shook her head, smiling.

  “Fell, huh? Okay, and what about you, Conor, did you fall too?”

  “No ma’am,” Conor replied. “Something knocked me upside the head. I hit a tree and was out cold.”

  “Well then, take Patrick to that room and lay him on the bed. And Conor, you go sit down over there.” She directed him to a small two person couch. “I will see what I can do for Patrick then come take care of you. Grant and Kylie, feel free to clean up, get a drink, eat a snack, whatever you need. Make yourselves comfortable.”

  I thanked her and looked at Grant for direction.

  “If you would like to wash up, there is the bathroom.” He pointed to a small door near the kitchen. “Or I can get you something to eat and drink.”

  “I think I will wash up first.”

  “I will be in the kitchen when you get done.”

  I headed to the bathroom, shut the door behind me, and discovered, instead of modern lock, a small brass key poked out of a keyhole. I debated on whether or not to lock it, scared–with my luck–I might get stuck. I decided to leave it unlocked. I walked over to a small white basin. I ran some cold water and splashed it onto my face. Against my grimy skin, the cool water soothed and refreshed. After I cleaned up, I smoothed my hair down and went to find Grant.

  He stood in the kitchen with his back to me. My stomach bounced and my palms grew clammy just thinking about the conversation we were about to have. We needed to talk about the things I had discovered but I was unsure of where to begin, but knew he probably wouldn’t initiate this discussion especially since I had a feeling he would rather avoid it.

  I stepped into the kitchen and the smell of blueberry muffins greeted me. My mouth watered. First, a muffin, then talk to Grant. As I approached him, I heard another voice and Grant laughed. He turned as I walked up, revealing a little girl sitting at the table eating a muffin.

  I smiled and waved. “Hi.”

  She waved back then hid her face behind her hair.

  In a very tender voice, Grant spoke to her. “Hey now, don’t be shy. This is Kylie. Remember me telling you about Kylie?”

  The girl’s head bobbed and she peeked out from behind her strawberry blonde locks. “Hi Kylie,” she offered quickly, in a tiny little voice.

  “What’s your name?” I asked taking a few steps closer to her. She lifted her head to see me better. Most of her hair fell off her face, and the minute I got a good look at her cobalt blue eyes, I knew who I was looking at.

  “Katelyn?” I asked Grant.

  “The one and only,” he said, directing a playful grin and wink at her. It made me melt, and I probably would have just stood there staring at him had Katelyn not spoken up.

  “Do you know me?” she asked, using the palms of her hands to push the remaining hair off her face.

  She managed to get most of it, but a few strands still hung in front of her eyes. I reached over and brushed them aside.

  Katelyn smiled at me. “You’re pretty. Will you be my friend and play with me?” She had a sweet voice. Her R’s came out sounding like W’s. Her adorableness made me want to scoop her into a giant hug.

  “I’d love to be your friend and play with you.”

  “Katelyn, do you remember what I told you about Kylie? She’s your sister.” The tone of Grant’s voice touched me. He was great with her. Was he as always this good with kids?

  She gave him a very annoyed little girl look, “Yes, Grant. I know, she’s my sister, but I asked her if she would be my friend.”

  I giggled and gave Grant a she told you look.

  He also chuckled. “Sorry, Katelyn. My mistake.”

  She let out a huff and hopped off the chair. “I’m going to get my dolly, and then we can play.” She scurried out of the room, and I turned to Grant.

  “She looks just like my mom. The eyes, the hair–it’s remarkable.” I stared in the direction she ran off then back at him. “And she is healthy now? Nothing’s wrong, even if she goes back?”

  “She is perfectly healthy, and as you can see full of life.”

  “That’s phenomenal. When is she going back to my parents?”

  “Soon, but I’m not sure exactly when.”

  Just then Katelyn came back in the room carrying two baby dolls. She handed one to me and placed a muffin in front of me.

  “You’re her mommy and,” she focused on Grant, “you’re her daddy. You have to take good care of her. She’s hungry so feed her a muffin.” She spoke in a no nonsense way, giving us clear and concise directions. It reminded me of Nanny, and I wanted to giggle watching this little girl imitate her so well. “Now, I need to go into town. I am going to leave my baby with her daddy.”

  Grant arched an eyebrow. “Conor?”

  Katelyn nodded.

  “Got it. We will take good care of baby–” Grant looked to Katelyn for a name.

  She rolled her eyes up in thought, then answered, “Pink Sparkle.”

  “Got it, we will take good care of Pink Sparkle.”

  Katelyn eyed us as if deciding if we were up for the job. Seeming satisfied with our competence, she walked out carrying her baby and a purse almost as big as she was.

  “Conor?” I laughed.

  “Apparently I have been replaced, I am usually the dad.” He feigned disappointment but then smiled. “Maybe she just thinks you and I make a better match.”

  My heart thumped, and I suppressed the urge to scream if a toddler can see it, why can’t you?

  “You better get to work on that muffin. If Katelyn comes back and finds it uneaten, she may replace you too.” He grinned.

  I obliged by eating the muffin myself.

  * * * *

  The rest of the day we played with Katelyn and relaxed, while Conor got to feeling better. Patrick eventually woke, though still pretty banged up. Grant spoke to someone who “took care of Brighid,” whatever that meant. I didn’t care, as long as I didn’t have to see her again. Hopefully now that everyone knew she was a psychopath, I wouldn’t have to.

  When nighttime rolled around, he suggested we stay and the three of us would leave in the morning. Katelyn disappeared, getting ready for bed, finally giving me a private moment to talk with him.

  “Grant, it’s been fun playing with Katelyn, but you do still realize we have things to talk about.” I met his eyes, hoping he would see my seriousness.

  He sighed and raked his hands through his hair. “Yeah, I know. So how much did Brighid tell you?”

  “She told me you worked for Liam, who is a prince. She also said you were bringing me home safely because my mom struck a deal with him.” I looked down. “I’m supposed to marry him.”

  “It seems you have been filled in pretty well.”

  I studied his eyes, searching for answers. “How could you know this and not tell me?”

  “Would you have come with me if I had?”

  I thought about that for a moment. My life had been in danger, and I would follow Grant just about anywhere, but would I be some bride, betrothed to a guy I didn’t even know? No way. “Probably not.”

  “Now you see my predicament? I want you safe Kylie, and not just because it’s my job to bring you home. When they sent me to find you, I didn’t know what to expect, but that first time I saw you…” He paused and took a breath. “I can’t find the words for it. I immediately knew it was you. I felt the magic that had been dormant in you for so long come to life, but nothing prepared me for the way it would make me feel.”

  “So, that’s normal, to feel other people’s magic?”

  “Actually, no. You can usually sense others’ magic or just know they are otherworldly, but to feel it, that’s never happened to me before.” He looked down at his hands.

  “Why do you think it happened then?” I asked timidly.

  He shrugged. “I have a few theories,
but nothing I am sure of.” Anxious, I waited to hear his theories, but just then a bouncing Katelyn entered the room. We both turned to her and my mouth pulled back. She seemed to light up the room.

  “Guess what?” She said, barely able to contain her excitement. She sprang up and down. “Conor needs my bed since he’s sick, and I get to have a pajama party! With you!” She clapped her hands and danced around on her tiptoes. Grant and I exchanged confused looks. Nanny walked in just then with a smile on her face.

  “I see you have heard the good news. I’m sorry, beds are taken, but I brought you plenty of blankets. You can sleep on the couches or make a pallet on the floor whatever you find most comfortable.”

  “Let’s make a bed on the floor!” Katelyn said enthusiastically. Her blue eyes were bright as she grasped a small pink blanket and twirled. Her celebratory dance made me giggle.

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” I said. My mouth stretched into a wide smile as Katelyn cheered. We set out laying down blankets for a comfy makeshift bed. “Grant, you can have the couch if you want.”

  “I can’t take the couch and have you two ladies on the floor. If you are going to sleep on the floor, then I will too.” He winked at Katelyn and she squealed with delight.

  After getting ready for bed, the three of us lay on the floor, with Katelyn in the middle. Nanny said her good nights and headed to bed. Katelyn chattered away and finally began to settle down. She crept closer and closer until finally snuggling right up against me. I absentmindedly played with her hair until she fell asleep. The craziness of the day replayed in my mind.

  This didn’t even seem like my life, how did I go from normal teenager to future faery princess? Isn’t that what little girls dream of? I chuckled to myself. If only they knew.

  “What are you thinking about,” Grant asked, speaking just above a whisper.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “I wasn’t asleep.”

  I relayed my thoughts about being a faery princess. He didn’t seem to find the odd humor in it I did. In fact, it seemed to bother him.

 

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