Bridger

by Megan Curd

  My brain was at the breaking point, but there was something I still needed to know. “Liam…”

  Memaw smiled. “I knew you’d like him. He’s pure human. They’ve all suffered a loss to the hands of the Changelings. This caused them to come to the Glaistigs, requesting to protect those who may be more at risk of repercussion from the Changelings. They take care of Tess because of the loss of her son, Aiden. Jesse watches for any issues that may befall the McVeans because of their connection to me. When one of them vows to watch over a single person, they become a Protector. None of them had gained that status until last night. Liam vowed to be yours and Desmond is Tess’s. I watch over your mother, making sure that Ankou will not come after her or your brother. This war began far before you came, I’m afraid.”

  Nodding, it was obvious this was something that couldn’t be run away from, but at the same time something we couldn’t ignore. My brain couldn’t accept that I wasn’t completely human. I felt human enough. “Why doesn’t Liam know his own mother is...is different?”

  “Because I’m the only one that knows besides your mother. The only reason your mother knows is because of you. Everything needed to be explained to her after your visit to the hospital. Liam cannot know because it would put him in direct danger of Ankou as well, not to mention the fact that he still hates the Changelings for kidnapping his brother. Don’t you think he would mistake you for a Changeling if you tried to explain? No, he cannot know of your true ability, Ashlyn. We don’t even know enough to be sure of what you’re capable of. The Glaistigs will be curious to meet you.”

  Memaw smiled while watching me process things, sighing. “I think someone wants to spend some time with you.”

  There was a knock at the door, Liam’s worried voice coming through the closed door. “Ash, are you awake?”

  Memaw leaned forward, kissing the top my forehead. “I love you, Ashlyn. I always have. I’ve protected you as best as possible, but there was no need to explain everything until now, so I had to remain distant. I always hoped you wouldn’t need to know. Please believe I will be as close as you want now.”

  I nodded. “I want you close, Memaw.”

  Smiling, she turned to leave. “One more thing,” she added, turning back around. “Try to control your eye color around Liam. If he sees your eyes black, he’ll assume the worst, having already lost a brother to a Changeling. It could blow the cover we’ve worked at keeping for so long.”

  Jeeze, no pressure or anything. “How? I don’t know how it works.”

  “Anytime you’re frightened or excited, any extreme human emotion will cause your eyes to change to black right now. You’ll be able to control it in time, but the one thing that marks a Changeling beyond all else is their black eyes. Although you’re human and Glaistig as well, the black will always be your dominant eye color until you have complete control of yourself. Just be sure to keep your head while around Liam. I’ve never seen you blush like you did when he was with you last time,” she joked. “I knew a boy would woo you at some point.”

  With that, Memaw opened the door. Liam stood there nervous, holding flowers. When he leaned around Memaw to find me sitting on the bed, the grin that lit up his face caused his eyes to disappear. I loved it. Smiling back, I blushed. Liam made it nearly impossible to feel human, even before knowing that I wasn’t.

  THIRTEEN

  Wrapped in Liam’s arms, I leaned my head back against his chest. I could definitely get used to this.

  There was only so much I could do to stay casual about my previous breakdown. “So, how long was I out?”

  He gingerly repositioned himself to get comfortable, all the while keeping his arms securely fastened around me. “Not too long, actually. Just over a day. You had me worried, though. There was blood everywhere.”

  All things considered, I hadn’t come out of the mess too awful. Sure, the three broken ribs would take a while to heal, my nose looked odd from the introduction to the road, and all the stitches made me look like Frankenstein. It still beat being dead, though. I should be eligible for the Purple Heart after all that, in my opinion. Too bad they didn’t make one for wars that most people didn’t even know were going on.

  “If Jamie ever comes around again, I’m making sure the crowbar finds its’ mark,” I joked. Carefully moving to get more comfortable, my fingers wound between Liam’s. My heart nearly pounded its way out of my chest when he eagerly reciprocated the gesture.

  Liam leaned forward to rest his chin on my shoulder. Whispering, his voice was still fervent. “She’ll never get near you again, I swear it. Not now that I’m your Protector.”

  “Liam, you don’t know that. If Ankou has her after me and she can change into a normal person, we’re in big trouble.” He couldn’t protect me from the whole world. Or better put, worlds. I was on more than one radar at this point.

  He gently turned me around to face him. His eyes were the deepest blue I had ever seen. They seemed to have a life of their own based on his emotions. It was impossible to not get lost in them.

  “Ash, why can’t you believe I’m not just doing this as a job? I chose you because I want you.”

  I looked down in hopes to keep a poker face going. “What about your mom, Liam? Tess needs protecting, too.” More than you know, I wanted to include. Memaw didn't seem to think he needed to know that, though.

  “Desmond is more than capable. He’s wanted someone to protect for a long time. He’s tired of being a wing man,” Liam laughed. “Plus, the perks of being a protector aren’t bad, if you think about it.”

  Liam explained the position of a Protector to me. Once you swore yourself to being a protector, you stopped aging as long as you kept the one you were sworn to protect safe. That seemed like a great thing, until reading the fine print. If anything ever happened to them, the protector received the same punishment. If my big toe were to be lopped off, Liam’s would be done in at the same time. A cut on my right arm? Liam gets one, too. If I died, well, we didn't need to go there. Talk about not being on a three-strike system. Liam’s life was directly connected to my ability to keep myself out of trouble, which seemed more and more unlikely with the way things were going. It seemed like I was on a crash course for disaster, and now Liam was guilty by association.

  “If I get myself in trouble, you’re going to croak, too. That's not something you'd want on your conscience, is it? I mean, I don’t even know that much about you still,” I whined, although we had spent what seemed like endless hours talking since my arrival five days ago.

  “What don’t you know? I mean, I’ve told you everything and you’ve met my mum. Most people consider that the step before you begin to date.”

  His reasoning brought a smile to my face. “Well, your favorite color is still a mystery to me. That might be crucial someday.”

  “Easy. Whatever color of contacts you’re wearing that day. You seem to change them daily.”

  Oh man. Time to direct this conversation out of dangerous waters. He was right about my contacts changing daily, but what he didn’t know was that wasn't going to be a problem from now on. When I got the hang of this, I could just decide what color I wanted and it happened.

  “You’re such a marshmallow. Maybe I should hold out on agreeing to date you if you’re so easily swayed in your decisions,” I joked.

  He went silent, his demeanor instantly changing. “What did I say?” I said, worried I’d offended him by accident.

  He untangled one of his hands and began tracing shapes along my neck and back. My eyes rolled back for a moment before he brought me back with his words.

  “Ashlyn, do you like me?”

  That was the dumbest question I’d ever heard, even after living with Chris for fifteen years. Opening my eyes, I turned to look at him once more. “Why would you even ask that? Isn’t it obvious?”

  He laughed. “I was just making sure you weren’t simply using me as your personal body pillow.”

  I closed my eyes again as he con
tinued his tracing patterns. We sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again.

  “Mum approves of you and Emily approves of me.”

  Facts. The boy was nothing but facts when he was nervous.

  “I know.” If he wasn’t going to give me anything to work with, I wasn’t going to help him out, either. That much Jamie had taught me. Even though she’d turned out to be a psycho, stalking pixie that had attempted to murder me, she had given some decent advice on boys before she went to the dark side. I wondered what Mark would think if he knew he'd kissed a girl who felt kelp between her teeth was the ultimate fashion statement.

  Liam attempted to pull more out of me. “You know, but what?”

  I dodged the question. “Well, if we’re together and I upset you, your mom could probably break me in half.”

  He laughed. “Mum wouldn’t do anything of the sort. She likes you too much. She knows Emily could break her in half, too.”

  We both laughed. No one messed with Memaw, especially now that she didn’t have to hold onto her façade of being over two hundred years old. She was quick as an old lady, but she definitely moved now that she didn’t have the arthritis to hold her back. She would show up out of seemingly nowhere, as fast as a cobra strike.

  I sighed. “You don't know how much I really do like you, Liam. That's the problem.”

  As if to prove my point, I pulled his hand away from my neck, instead pressing my lips against the back of his hand. We hadn’t kissed, and I wasn’t going to cross that bridge. That would be all on him.

  He sat there silent for a moment. “Then, does that mean you want me as more than your Protector?” he asked quietly, as if still afraid of the answer.

  I pulled his hand away from my lips to say one simple word.

  “Yes.”

  * * *

  Life was significantly different now. Not just because my once best friend was out there somewhere planning to finish me off, because I had somehow landed the most amazing guy, or because I wasn’t completely human.

  Life was significantly different because there was finally a reason behind all the madness. Plus, in all honesty, it was pretty cool to have all of the newfound abilities.

  Memaw, Tess, and I had been having ‘girl’s nights’ when the guys went away to ‘work’. However, with Desmond and Liam specifically protecting Tess and me, sometimes it was a little hard.

  Tess was practically prying Desmond from her leg. He was all but wrapped around her massive body, begging us not to go. Her attempt to be kind did nothing to curb his desire to keep her from taking one step out of the door. “Desmond, I understand you’re my Protector. What I need for you to understand is that I will beat you over the head until you’re senseless if you don’t let go of the back of my shirt.”

  Finally Memaw stepped in and told him to go find something productive to do with his time. After she made it clear that she was more than capable of looking after Tess, Desmond finally allowed us to leave the house in peace.

  What Desmond didn’t know was instead of going out to eat, Memaw had been teaching us more about the faerie world. Tess was ages ahead of me – quite literally – but since my appearance it had also thrown a lot of things into question.

  Things such as what was I in comparison to Tess.

  There was no question that I was undoubtedly more powerful than Tess. The only question was how far these newfound abilities extended.

  Leaving out the front door, we feigned a walk to the nearby restaurant that was open twenty-four hours. Once out of the guys’ eyesight, we doubled back through the trees lining the road. Making sure we were far enough away to not be overheard, our practice session began.

  Not long after starting, I was already dripping with sweat. It was hard work trying to be a human chameleon, which was exactly what Memaw and Tess expected tonight. Apparently with the right amount of focus, shifting completely into someone else was possible. Tonight’s target was Tess.

  “Try again, Ashlyn. You can do this,” Tess encouraged, slapping me on the back. I stumbled forward from the force Tess put behind the gesture. She chuckled. Looking back at her, she had propped her large frame against an oak tree. I shot her a look before Memaw commanded my attention once more.

  “Concentrate, Ashlyn.”

  Focusing, I turned back around to face Tess. She smiled when I squinted my eyes in frustration.

  Suddenly there was a current of electricity running along my skin. I inhaled in shock. That was new.

  “Ash! Your hair!” Tess exclaimed.

  Grabbing a handful and pulling it toward my face to be able see it, I screamed in disbelief and excitement. “It matches yours perfectly!”

  Tess clapped her hands together. “You match me perfectly. Ash, you’re a flat out mirror image! Emily, do you know what this means? We can send her in to do reconnaissance and they’ll never know once she gets this down. We could find –”

  “Don’t. Even. Think. About. It,” Memaw said, making each word its own sentence.

  Tess wore a look of indignation. Pulling herself away from her tree, she argued with Memaw. “Why not? We’ve never had an opportunity like this. Ashlyn is more Changeling than anything else, although obviously your abilities have been passed on somehow. If she’s able to take shape at will –”

  Memaw cut her off again. “That’s not something I’ll allow. It’s not her job. She’s not a search and rescue party, she’s my granddaughter. We’re not throwing her to the wolves like that.”

  Tess and Memaw were both looking my way. Tess was wearing a look full of hope, while Memaw looked like she was staring out of a grave. Memaw changed the subject.

  “Once we know what you’re capable of, we’ll go to the Glaistig and see what they say. They will undoubtedly offer you a position.” Memaw said.

  Tess smiled at the comment, but I was nonplussed. “What’s that mean?”

  “That if you’re intriguing enough, if you have abilities of use, the Glaistig will want to give you immortality,” Memaw said.

  My brain was going ninety miles an hour. Immortality? Sounded good to me. “Since Liam’s my Protector, will that free him of his duty?”

  Neither Tess nor Memaw spoke.

  Finally, Tess looked at Memaw, the color drained completely from her face. “Emily, please tell me you didn’t allow my baby to make that vow.”

  Memaw stared into Tess’ eyes, remorse clear in her expression. “Was there any other choice, Tess? He’s old enough to make that decision on his own.”

  “Why was I not involved with the decision?”

  “I wasn’t aware he didn’t tell you.”

  Watching the conversation, it was obvious there was more here than met the eye. Tess was getting more upset by the minute, and Memaw was almost physically shrinking as Tess began to cry. “Do you not know what you’ve done to him, Emily? You knew what he was signing up for and you let him.”

  I stepped in, hoping to console Tess. “Well, if I take immortality, Liam will be immortal, too. Then we’ll all be okay.”

  “No, Ashlyn, we won’t all be okay,” Tess said as she turned her back to Memaw and began to walk away. “If you’re mortal, he’s connected to every injury you face, even to death. If you take immortality, he dies.”

  FOURTEEN

  Walking back to Tess’s house, Memaw grabbed my arm and held us still in the tree line. “You need to shift back, Ashlyn.”

  I had been walking in a stupor. Liam was sentenced to death any way you looked at it. No matter what, he was condemned by his decision to be my protector. He was literally a dead man walking. Unable to bear the thought, I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the reflection that I saw in the mirror every day. Feeling the electric current caused me to shiver again. Looking down, my body was once more my own.

  Memaw tried to be encouraging. “You’re a natural, Ashlyn. It’s incredible.”

  It was hard to feel encouraged after hearing what Liam had gotten himself into. Walking into the house,
Liam was there to greet us. His eyes were almost completely gone from the gigantic grin taking over his face.

  “I’ve missed you,” he said, getting up from the couch and crossing the room.

  Not knowing what to say, his immediate embrace muffled the ability to talk anyway. My face was hidden in his shoulder. His embrace was wonderful, but it didn’t take away the numbness that had begun to spread throughout my body at what Tess had told me.

  Jesse was practically singing with excitement as his voice emerged from the kitchen. “Emily, guess what we found today?”

  Issac sounded nearly as buoyant. “You’re gonna freak. I can’t wait to find Jamie on the other side of this crack.”

  Tess had been leaning against the bookshelf on the wall, trying to control her emotions. At this latest information, though, she came alive. “You found a crack? Another one?”

  Liam let go of me, sharing in the enthusiasm. “Yeah, Mum. It’s unreal! We found it while you were out to eat.”

  “What’s a crack?” I asked. I might as well been talking to a wall.

  “That’s five this week,” Memaw said mechanically, ticking off names of cities surrounding Blarney. “There was one in Fairhill, two in Hollymount and one in Tinker’s Cross…”

  Once again I asked my question. “What’s a crack?”

  Nothing.

  Desmond chimed in. “Don’t forget the three we found in Donnybrook. I took out one by myself.”

  Issac laughed. “Only after that dumb Changeling nearly ripped off your head. You’re lucky I’m a sniper with the iron spear Emily gave me.” He winked at Memaw, who was too engrossed in this turn of events to respond to the gesture.

  Jesse wasn’t following the joking nature Desmond and Issac had. “They’re popping up all around us. It’s never been this bad, not even when you’ve been around in the past, Emily.”