Donovan shut the window. “Better?”
The fire shadows slowed to a gentle promenade.
“Much. Thanks.”
“Nice card-thingie,” Danny said.
The queen in Aydan’s hand halted, he scooped up the deck that lay fanned on his plate. Then he shuffled, cut the deck, and fanned half in each hand so that Danny and Cassidy could see every card.
“Can you shuffle?” He asked, rolling up the velvet sleeves of his jacket. He pulled the silken collar from around his neck and covered his eyes with it.
She cut the deck several times and pushed the cards together.
“Now discreetly pick a card.”
Feeling Danny’s breathing in her ear, she held the cards up to show her. Danny pointed to the ten of diamonds.
“You have it?”
“Yes.”
“Hold onto that for now,” he said, still blindfolded, as he cupped the flame of one of the candles in his hand. The flame flared bright yellow for a moment then receded to a small orange flame, revealing a silvery card in Aydan’s hand. The shimmering card, much more elegant than the simple cards Cassidy held, had ten golden diamonds etched in it. Aydan flicked the card and it landed face up in her lap. He removed the blindfold with another swift movement.
When Cassidy stood to give Aydan the card, she realized he was more petite than she had originally assumed. His eyes were level with her collarbone, while wearing boots that had a slight heel. “That was spectacular,” she said, instead of remarking on his stature.
“Keep it.”
Cassidy nodded in thanks as Danny’s chin dug into her shoulder. She handed Danny the card to inspect.
Taban returned with Eadowen. He placed a chocolate mousse covered in cherry sauce, with a sliced strawberry adorning it, in front of her. She plunged her fork into the chocolate and took a large mouthful then her eyes widened, “This is amazing!”
“It’s tofu,” Donovan grumbled.
Aydan snickered from behind a fan of cards.
Eadowen ran his fingers across the strings of his clàrsach producing a sweet chime.
“What should I sing?”
“Fionn samhradh,” Eadowen replied.
The melody began softly, like a distant ocean lapping an ivory shore, then it crescendoed to a flowing river. The high ceiling caught the sound and reverberated it off the walls. Even Danny stopped eating to listen. Aydan closed his eyes and pulled his hair behind his ears to better enjoy the sound. Donovan rested his head in his hands and stared at the crystals which glimmered as the music caused them to spin slowly. Cassidy watched Eadowen lean into the harp and caress each string as though they were cobwebs and he was brushing away the morning dew. As the bubbling brook faded, Taban’s tenor voice harmonized with the soft chimes of the harp. As his voice flowed over Cassidy, she felt as though she was transported to an exotic island where she was submerged in a pristine sea. She could see the iridescent light playing on her legs as yellow fish darted around her hands.
Danny also felt that she was in an ocean, but the clear water was cold as ice, and a shadow pulled at her feet. The light did not reveal the form of the creature that swam below her. It remained amorphous and terrifying. Tearing herself away from the sound, by covering her ears, Danny noticed that Aydan had opened his eyes and was glaring in Taban’s direction. Danny tried not to make eye contact with anyone. She stared at a candle flame—its irregularities comforted her as she was surrounded by patterned sound.
Eadowen slowed the melody to ripples of rain on a deep lake. Taban allowed his voice to fade to a mist that was swept away by the wind of the final note. Framed by the drapes Taban and Eadowen ducked their heads to each other and their audience.
“Please, enjoy your desserts,” Eadowen said, waving at the nearly untouched mousses. Cassidy savored the tart cherry on bitter chocolate, cleansing her palate with sweet strawberry. Taban laid his head on the table and closed his eyes.
***
“May I help you clear the plates?” Cassidy asked.
“I have everything taken care of,” Eadowen replied. “It’s almost eleven.”
Donovan poured the remainder of the sparkling water in the pitcher over Taban’s sleeping face. Taban jerked out of his stupor and jumped when he realized how close his face had been to one of the candles. He grabbed a long bronze candlesnuffer and gingerly suffocated a flame. Aydan rolled his eyes, licked his fingers and put out the candelabras.
Next to the tapestry, Danny tied up her tennis shoes and Cassidy slipped on her boots.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” Taban asked.
“Mom offered to let us go surfing, since she already called a plane to get us home the day after tomorrow.”
“I think you’d love Martinique Beach, especially if you go in the morning, right before lunch,” Taban purred. “The water’s lovely.”
“Will you both come over tomorrow night too?” Eadowen asked.
“Yeah,” Danny replied, glanced at Cassidy and added, “Probably.”
As the trees lining the road thinned and became smaller, a figurative weight lifted from Danny’s shoulders. The trails in Strathcona Park back in Victoria had much bigger trees, but Danny had never felt the same connection she did to the boreal forest near the Tolymie’s house.
***
As the car pulled up to Ms. Reyes’ house, Taban touched the dashboard to unlock the doors, so that Danny could jump out early. She raced into the house waving a quick goodbye to Taban. He returned the gesture and slowly brought the car to a stop. Cassidy grabbed the door handle and tried to say she had a good time, but he was suddenly closer to her. With an intent expression, he held her gaze. Then he grinned and hugged her around the shoulders. “See you.”
Cassidy felt light-headed as she carefully stepped out of the car. Trying to conceal her vertigo, she gripped the railing as she walked up the three steps to the house. She kicked off her boots, ran to the spare bedroom, and flopped onto the bed. The butterflies she felt when she encountered an appealing person were nothing compared to this discombobulating reaction.
“What’s up?” Danny said, crouching on the bed over Cassidy like a vulture.
“Nothing, I’m fine. So, what did you find out? What’s a GF? ”
With energetic hand gestures, Danny explained everything she’d learned about the genetics and the risks.
“Sounds like bad science fiction, but I guess it’s plausible,” Cassidy said. “Do you trust these people?”
“I do. Mom was lying. I’ve been to their house before, when I was little. After I remembered xie gave me this picture.”
Danny showed Cassidy the photograph on her Ogham.
“Are you sure? It could be doctored.”
“Eadowen’s neck smelled good. I remembered him from before. It makes sense ’cause smell connects strongly to episodic memory.”
“When did you smell Eadowen’s …” Cassidy had to remind herself that Danny tended to say things out of context. “I’ll visit them tomorrow if you will. It’s better if we stick together … err sorry about getting caught up with the video game.”
“I understand,” Danny shrugged. “It’s okay.”
“I’m jealous of you.”
“Why?”
“Because you get to be something special that people are after,” Cassidy scratched the back of her neck. “I know that’s really bad, isn’t it.”
“I don’t think I’m special. Maybe I get to live a little longer life, but all my friends will be gone and I’ll have to hide that I’m still alive … that kind of sucks. Do I seem immature to you?” Danny blurted.
“You’re just petite.” Cassidy tried not to look amused. Danny did appear youthful, but to Cassidy she didn’t seem young. The sharpness of her features and her proportional figure made her age ambiguous. When she thought about it, Cassidy realized, her friend could pass as twelve or twenty-seven. Most peculiar of all, Danny’s eyes seemed ancient, as though she had witnessed the world far longer than her chronologica
l age.
“No, I meant me not my appearance,” Danny explained. “The kids at school call me that when they think I can’t hear them.”
“Sometimes a little?” Cassidy attempted both honesty and diplomacy, but Danny’s face fell. “I like you the way you are,” she added.
“You like me as a friend?” Danny ventured, picking her words with great care.
“Of course you’re my friend.” Cassidy shook Danny’s shoulder gently. “You’re awesome!”
“Okay.” Danny rolled up into a ball. She attempted to convince herself that she didn’t know why Cassidy’s kind sentiment frustrated her. “I’m scared. What’s going to happen?”
“It’s going to be okay. It’s not like we’re getting attacked by ‘Egg Friskies.’ ”
“What?”
“You know those things from the lecture that were like Kelpies, but lived in the ocean,” Cassidy said. “Promise me you won’t let yourself get lured to the ocean by any horse-men, okay Hon?”
Danny laughed. “We’ll have to look up the pronunciation sometime. Let’s get some sleep.”
“Good night, Danny.”
Cassidy played with the card Aydan had given her. She watched the shine jump from diamond to diamond as she bent it. Still not sure she could allow herself to entertain the possibility that Genetic Feys were real, she lay awake, thoughts of Taban creeping into her mind. The harder she pushed them out to make room for planning, the more persistent the images became. At last, she fell into a dream in which she swam around cotton candy clouds in a blue sky.
PART TWO
FOUR YEARS AGO: IN WHICH TABAN’S ORIGINS ARE REVEALED
“There was a Fomoriian Prince who was as seductive as an Each Uisge—strange in what forms attractiveness can come. He was also the father of a Tuatha de Danann. It would seem we are all connected.”
–EADOWEN TOLYMIE
CHAPTER 7
IN WHITE MARBLE HELL
IT WAS TABAN’S FINAL YEAR at Talbot Mir Academy in Malibu, California. He’d received his acceptance letters to universities and celebrated his eighteenth birthday three months earlier, in January. He should’ve been walking down the dorm halls with head held high. Instead, he was running at full tilt with a framed certificate clutched in his hand. Halting at a hallway intersection, he peered around the corner. A young woman carefully read the numbers on each room. She was between him and the door to his room. He ran back to a glass door at the other end of the hall, slid his Ogham across the identification pad, and exited into the garden. The dorm surrounded a small enclosure for students to plant and tend. Taban leaped over patches of lettuce and cabbage and grabbed the trunk of a sapling cherry tree to assist him in a sharp turn. Pink petals showered him, as he slid on newly plowed soil. As he transitioned the certificate to his mouth, he located the second-story window of the room he shared with Eadowen Tolymie. Placing both hands on the first-story window ledge, he vaulted. Balanced on the first-story window, Taban gripped the top of the frame. Then he put one foot on the side of the window, pushed his weight to the top of the frame, and snatched the bottom of the second-story window. With the assistance of a tree branch he hauled himself onto the second-story window ledge. Seeing no one in the room, his anxiety heightened. He tucked the certificate under his arm and crammed his fingers beneath the window pane. His arm burned, as he yanked up on the glass forcing the window open. In a rush of adrenaline, he dove through the open window. His platform sandal caught on the ledge causing him to fall face first onto Eadowen’s bed.
The room was only large enough to contain two beds, dressers, and desks. Taban dropped the certificate on Eadowen’s desk with a resounding clack. He quickly traversed the meter-wide space between their beds and threw open the restroom door. Listening to his tablet, Eadowen reclined sleepily in a bubble bath surrounded by beeswax candles. Open flames in the dorm room seemed to be the only rule Eadowen broke.
“Knocking is usually considered polite, especially since listening to Wodehouse isn’t the only way I relax,” Eadowen reiterated the warning Taban frequently disregarded.
“Consider the sound of my face-plant a knock,” Taban huffed. He reached into Eadowen’s bath and pulled the drain. To his surprise the water was ice cold, but he had more important issues to bother asking why. “There’s a girl who’s probably going to come by any minute. I have to hide!”
“Again?”
“I can’t help it—it just sort of happens,” Taban begged. He sat on the tile floor facing his friend. Hanging his head to avoid Eadowen’s gaze, Taban felt Eadowen brush the petals out of his loose brunette curls.
“That’s no excuse,” Eadowen replied, taking off his reading glasses. “I’ll help her.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“For her, not you. I’d make you face her, but you’d lie. She’d believe you because everyone seems to and it would get worse.”
Taban averted his eyes, as Eadowen hoisted himself out of the bath. He maneuvered into his wheelchair and entered the room. Taban shrunk behind the door, but watched from the sliver created by the door hinge. Just as Eadowen finished buttoning up his shirt, there was a knock.
“Coming,” Eadowen called cordially as he dried his hair with his towel.
Eadowen opened the door to reveal the same girl with tear stains glistening on her face, slouched shoulders, and clenched fists. “Good afternoon, what can I do for you?”
“Hi. I need to talk to Taban.”
“I’m Taban’s roommate, Eadowen. What’s your name?”
“Marja.”
“Would you like to sit down, Marja? Anywhere you like.”
“Thanks.” She sat at the foot of his bed.
Facing her, he crossed then uncrossed his arms. Marja imitated his motion and relaxed her shoulders. They sat in silence across from one another for a while. She fussed with her blond pixie cut.
“What can I help you with?” Eadowen asked.
“I need to talk to Taban. This isn’t your problem.”
“I’m sorry, he can’t speak with you right now.”
“Okay—I guess I’ll have to come back. Sorry to intrude.” Marja pushed herself off the bed.
“You seem distressed. Just rest for a minute.” Eadowen held out a hand to indicate that she should sit down, which she obeyed. “What’s your focus in school?”
“I just started at UCLA, public health and international relations.”
“Wow. You must have great time-management skills.” Eadowen tilted his head in order to look up at her with his warm eyes. “Taban acts like a disrespectful, narcissistic, amoral imbecile. I will do whatever I can to help you.”
“So, it’s a more efficient use of my time to talk to you?”
“Definitely.”
Marja sighed. “I slept with Taban last night. It was my first time and …,” her voice cracked. “I don’t feel good about it.” She looked down and scratched her arm. “I didn’t feel like I had control of myself, but I didn’t have any alcohol and I know he didn’t drug me.”
Lightly touching her forearm, Eadowen made a comforting sound. “If you believe Taban coerced you, it may be a good idea to report him.”
I didn’t pressure her. Thanks a lot, Eadowen, Taban thought.
“Actually, I’m surprised he managed to have sex. I wasn’t aware he was that coordinated.”
Marja gave a small snort in response to Eadowen’s snide remark. “I think I was the one who came onto him, so I don’t feel like I should be upset, but he just lingers in my mind. It’s weird,” she explained.
“That’s not true at all. An intimate experience has a lot of emotions involved. I’m so sorry he’s too pathetic to talk to you about this. It’s very irresponsible of him. Fortunately, there are plenty of better places to go if you need support.”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and inspected the certificate on Eadowen’s desk. “You won a cooking competition?”
“I did. Do you want to try a dessert?” E
adowen retrieved a tiny square cheesecake from a mini-refrigerator under his bed. It was decorated with an elaborate Celtic knot drizzled in caramel and sprinkled with coconut. He took a fork out of a circular container on his desk and handed it to her with the cake. She carved a morsel of the delicacy and took a bite.
“This is really good.”
“That means a lot to me. How are you feeling?”
“I guess I liked him more than I thought I did.” She tugged on her hair. “You do this a lot, don’t you? That was rhetorical,” she added hastily, when Eadowen gave her a pained look.
It always amazed Taban how quickly people opened up to Eadowen. Marja conversed with him for an hour and a half. Taban’s back started to ache from crouching against the tub. Quietly, he unclipped his strap shirt releasing his stomach from the tight wrap around his torso. In the mirror, hanging on the restroom door, Taban inspected his reflection. Years of swimming and he still had little muscle definition and his diet had caused a pudge around his waist. He thought it was odd that his skin was darker than his hair, though modeling agencies seemed to like his diverse look. Besides contrast, he couldn’t see anything particularly special about his face; he didn’t have a defined jaw or nice cheekbones. It was a mystery to him why people seemed so attracted to his average looks.
“I really appreciate everything. Thanks for letting me unload.”
“I’m glad I could be there for you. Take care of yourself.”
“I will.” She said and shut the door decisively.
“You need to take responsibility for your actions,” Eadowen said as Marja’s footsteps faded down the hallway.
“I would but— most people get weird around me,” Taban said flopping onto his bed. “I just took her on a nice date. You know I’m not disgusting enough to ply someone with alcohol or drugs. Right?”
“Maybe you should act like you are a drug.”
“I don’t have magic pheromones. All I did was sweet talk her a bit.”
Taban glanced at the time. He pulled creased slacks out of the bottom of the dresser bringing a variety of other articles of clothing out of the drawer with his motion. He let the designer garments fall in a pile on the floor.
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