by Megan Curd
Memaw smiled wryly. “You see what this means, don’t you?”
They all turned to look at me. I had found residence in Liam’s arms once more. Tess smiled in approval.
“They know Ashlyn’s here,” said Issac, rubbing his hands together. “You know that Merrow she befriended is just waiting on her chance for another go.”
“WHAT’S A CRACK?” Everyone paid attention now that I was yelling.
Liam tried to calm me down by tightening his embrace. “A crack is a place where Neamar and the human realm connect. That’s where Changelings come through to our side of the world. They can be anywhere, but generally they’re within old trees. To the naked eye they look like a gnarled hole, but if you know what you’re looking for…”
“You can see to the other side,” finished Jesse. “Only protectors and Glaistigs can, though. The Glaistigs give us the ability when we swear our dedication to someone.”
“So having eight show up around us in the week that I’m here…” I said, waiting on someone to finish the sentence.
Liam was the one to finish it, although it was obvious he didn’t like the answer he had to give. “It means Ankou wants you very, very badly. He doesn’t care how many Changelings he sends or how many people he kills in the process to get you. He must want to get his revenge against you something terrible, Emily.”
Memaw didn’t quite meet his gaze. Instead, she just nodded, looking at Tess. “There might be more to it than that to be honest, Liam.”
I looked up to see Liam’s reaction at Memaw’s last comment. His embrace became even tighter, more defensive.
“We’re getting out of here, then,” Liam said, looking at Memaw. “It’s my job to protect her. Let me do it.”
Nodding, Memaw looked at Tess, who nodded back. “Liam, how opposed to becoming a transfer student are you?”
Shocked, I looked back at Liam who was surprisingly grinning ear to ear. The smile didn’t reach his eyes as much as usual, though. He was in protector mode. I hated it. “Well, America’s always seemed like a nice place to visit.”
Tess laughed. “My boy’s going to be a transfer student!”
I groaned. This was going to be interesting.
* * *
I sat on Liam’s bed and watched him pack what belongings he wanted to bring with us. We had gone past arguing about three hours before; I tried to reason with Tess, Memaw and Liam but got nowhere. Instead of begging him to reconsider, I asked questions about things that still didn’t make sense.
“Why is Issac so attached to the iron spear?”
Liam answered as he put another pair of sandals in his suitcase. I shook my head. He was in for a brutal awakening when we touched down and it was negative eight. “Iron is one of the only things that can kill a Changeling.”
The sandal issue was going to have to take a back seat to this news. “What else kills Changelings?”
A pair of shorts went into the suitcase now. I really should have warned him, but it was just too funny to watch him pack as though we were going to Disney Land. Our first stop was going to be buying him a winter jacket. My only guess was he thought every place was like Florida. He was going to be in for a rude welcoming. “Well, fire can make them leave, which is why Emily burned Ankou when she wanted her son back. She went a little overboard, no offense. It worked, but you can see how it’s caused Ankou to hold a grudge for decades. It could also be because of the curse, or a mix of the two. Emily really let him have it.” Liam chuckled as he tossed a crumpled up t-shirt into the bag.
There seemed to be a lot of ways to hurt Changelings. “Is there anything else?”
Liam looked at me suspiciously, but then smiled. “Were you planning to go to a crack on your own tonight?”
My poker face was getting better. “Could be. However, last time I checked, it’s perfectly normal to want to know how to defend yourself.” And how to keep myself alive so you don’t die in the process, I thought. Not knowing how much Changeling there was left inside me, it was probably a good idea to know as much as possible.
He obliged once again, returning to pulling items out of dressers, nooks and crannies in his room. “The other really big one is eggs. They hate eggs for some reason. If they are presented with them, they instantly reveal themselves for what they are and flee. It’s like they’re allergic to them or something. It’s more effective than fire. More effective than anything else, actually.”
Well, there it was. The other ones hadn’t been a big deal, but the last one explained a lot. There were definitely still Changeling aspects lingering in me. That was obvious in my ability to shift into any person at will, but now I had some of their weaknesses. This was a serious concern. Memaw had to know this; why hadn’t she mentioned it?
Liam was waving his hand in front of my face. Snapping out of it, I looked back at him. “Ash. Hey, earth to Ash. You in there?”
He smiled his eye-crinkling smile and there was no choice but to smile back. He gave me butterflies. How had I landed him? It had to be a dream. Shaking my head slowly, I excused myself from the room. “I need to go ask Memaw something real quick, okay?”
Smiling, he nodded and finally tossed a pair of dark blue jeans in his suitcase. “Come back soon.”
At least he’d have one pair of pants to wear when we were met with snow. Leaving the room, it was easy to follow the sounds of Tess baking in the kitchen. Memaw would be there, as well. They didn’t go many places apart.
Memaw was leaning against the kitchen counter as Tess continued to cook one of her amazing concoctions. Standing beside Tess, she instantly pulled me to her side, arm around my shoulder.
There was no time to waste for small talk. “Memaw, is my egg allergy an allergy, or the Changeling trapped inside?”
Memaw smiled. “Liam’s been talking, hasn’t he?”
That response was a little irritating. “Well, kind of. Why didn’t you say anything about it before now?”
Tess tried to make me feel better. “Don’t worry, Ash. You’ve got the better end of the deal. I can’t be around anything cast iron. When the boys bring any of their weapons in the house, I break out in hives. It’s a real pain. Hard to explain, too.”
I had a burst of thought. “Jamie wasn’t sure of who she was looking for, was she? She tested me in different ways to see if I was who Ankou wanted. She noticed my black eyes, allergy to eggs, the constant eating…”
“Exactly. It was her who put the eggs in the cookies at Reese’s house,” Memaw confirmed. “I knew what she was not long after the first day you brought her home. At that point it was too late, though. You had already befriended her, and it didn’t matter what I said.”
Looking up, I saw the sadness in Memaw’s eyes as I said what she must have wanted to say. “Too late for me, you mean. She learned everything she needed to know from us hanging out all the time. She was talking to Ankou when we first got here; I heard her but thought she was talking to her boyfriend, Mark. She took all those funny videos over the past year to prove to him she had found me.”
“Yes, and no,” Memaw said. “It was too late for you. Ankou knows everything about you at this point, except that you’re part Glaistig, which is the key point we want to keep quiet. Beyond that, though, Jamie knows everyone you know. She knows where to find not only you, but also the family. It’s too late for them, too.”
Horror crushed me like a tidal wave. “Memaw...what’s going to happen to Mom and Chris?”
Her eyes were grave. “We’ll have to wait and see. It’s only a matter of time before Ankou tries to make his move. We just have to be ready.”
“Is there anything we can do?” I said, determined to be of use.
Tess smiled, rubbing my back like my mom would. “You can go back to school and keep Liam out of trouble.”
Opening my mouth to protest, Memaw interrupted, a small smile playing on her lips. “We already have your tickets. You leave first thing in the morning. Liam will find out who his host parents are
when you arrive at the airport.”
“Enjoy the rest of your year, Ashlyn,” Tess said sweetly.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” I said sarcastically. “Bringing home all kinds of dangerous things to hunt down me and my friends. This winter break was great.”
“Hey, you found a boyfriend,” Memaw teased.
I rolled my eyes. “Along with Changelings, pixies, and Bridgers.”
“Oh my!” joked Tess, putting her hand on her forehead to act like a damsel in distress.
Only Tess could make a joke out of impending doom.
FIFTEEN
The flight home was much less dramatic without Jamie, who had turned out to truly be psychotic. Sleeping against Liam, I woke only when we touched down in Dayton.
Liam pulled me up next to him. “Sleeping beauty, we’re here. Ready to go?”
I smiled, intertwining my hand with his. “Let’s go.”
Getting our baggage at the claim, Liam looked around. “How are we getting to your house, anyway?”
“My friend Mary said she’d pick us up. Her parents gave her their car to come get us.”
Turning around, Mary was easy to spot in the crowd. She was holding a massive sign that she had created that read, “Welcome home, Ashlyn & Jamie!” I waved her over to where we stood, praying I’d be able to come up with a decent excuse for why Jamie wasn’t here. Problem was, it wasn’t just Mary who had come.
Reese followed behind her, all smiles. That is, until he saw Liam holding my hand. He replaced his smile with a look of confusion that then turned into a frown. Mary’s expression wasn’t far off of that, either.
Mary was looking around for our bouncy, blonde-haired friend. “Ash, where’s Jamie? And who’s your friend?”
Liam answered, which was nice since I hadn’t thought up an excuse for Jamie’s absence. “She decided to stay in Ireland for a while longer. She’ll come later. The name’s Liam.”
Reese sauntered forward, overly arrogant. He made his hug entirely too intimate for my liking, which I assumed was an attempt to mark his territory. I pushed away from him after holding on long enough that it wouldn’t hurt his feelings.
“Ash, you brought home a souvenir,” Reese said, nodding stiffly to Liam. “I’m Reese.”
Putting his hand out to shake Liam’s, Liam simply nodded. He must have noticed the all too personal hug. “Nice to meet you.”
Reese let his hand fall. Boys. This was going to get ridiculous.
Mary broke the awkwardness by beginning to ask questions about Ireland. Knowing she was trying to move on past the guys laying their boundaries, I tried to make it sound like Ireland was the best thing ever. It must not have been convincing, though, because she began to talk about her break after an odd silence. It sounded like she had enjoyed a quiet break. I envied her simple, human life. Human. Wasn’t that what I was only a few weeks ago? No, the truth just hadn’t come out yet.
Mary looked at me apologetically. “By the way, if Jamie’s not here for a few weeks, would you mind me coming around your place for a few nights? My mom is going out of town on a business trip, and I don’t really want to stay in our house all alone.”
I was grateful for her request. We hadn’t spent much time together outside of the biology lab, so this would be a good chance to catch up. “Are you kidding? Of course you can come over! I don’t think being alone would be good for me right now, either. A good partner in crime is hard to come by.”
She smiled, gratitude evident in her expression. “Thanks, Ash. You’re a lifesaver. Mom would have died when she saw the electric bill afterwards. I was going to leave every light in the house turned on at night.”
On the way home Reese and Liam sat in the back seat, as far away from each other as possible. It was a quiet ride in the back, the guys instead deciding to let us carry the conversation up front. When we arrived to Reese’s house, things got even better.
“Where are you living, Liam?” Mary asked, being friendly. She was a great friend. She was always warm to everyone.
“Not sure. Emily told me I’d find out at the airport, but I didn’t see any school officials with you.”
Reese coughed uneasily. “Well, that would be because you were supposed to live with me for the rest of the year.”
Liam looked from me to Reese, then back again. “Are you serious?”
Blood drained from Reese’s face at the same time it did mine. Looking at Mary, I caught her look away to hide her snicker. “Liam, you and Reese are roommates.”
Liam pounded Reese on the back for good measure, making sure to pound just a little too hard to be friendly. “Well, this ought to be good. Nice to meet you, roomie.”
Reese returned the favor, opting to punch Liam in the shoulder. I’m surprised it didn’t go out of socket. “Just don’t think you’ll be bringing Ashlyn over to my house and being alone with her...roomie.”
It was going to be a miracle if they made it through the weekend.
* * *
Mary, Liam, and I began hauling Liam’s belongings into Reese’s room while he lounged in the hammock in the corner of his room. Reese decided being the cheerleader would be the best way to goad Liam. “Liam, you get a third of the room over there. Don’t touch my stuff and we’ll be just fine.”
Liam grunted as he moved his desk to his allotted side of the room. Mary and I were putting his sheets on the makeshift bed Reese’s mom had placed in the room. “I wouldn’t want to touch your stuff if I had a biohazard suit on. This place is disgusting.”
Mary and I looked at each other and grinned. Liam wasn’t lying. Reese never took out the trash. This arrangement could have been great as one of those reality TV shows.
“Well, we’re going to leave you two to get to know one another,” Mary said, nodding my way. We both wanted to get away from the brawl waiting to happen. The jury was still out on who I’d root for in that fight.
I hugged Liam tightly, then kissed him on the cheek. He grinned. “You ladies have fun.”
As we turned to leave, Reese called out. “What, no sugar for me? Liam won’t mind.”
Mary caught my eye before I turned to look at Reese. She was struggling to keep her grin under control. “You’re a diabetic. You can’t handle that much sugar to begin with.”
“Harsh. I’m gonna remember that.”
Mary and I laughed. We left the guys to do whatever it is that they do during male bonding. Or, in their case, marking their territory. Mary twirled the keys to her parents’ car. “That little hole in the wall coffee shop on Main sound good to you? We need to catch up.”
“Sounds very good.”
When we arrived, we ordered our coffees and found a couple of chairs in the back. Mary was making it clear she wanted as many details as I was willing to give her.
Mary sipped her coffee and looked at me with a humorous expression. “So, you didn’t send a picture of the cute boy. You decided to just bring him back instead?”
I laughed. “Something like that. It’s a long story.”
“We’ve got time. That’s why I paid for your large latte.”
Looking around, I sighed. “We just hit it off, that’s all.”
“Enough that he shows up to attend FHS? Isn’t it hard to get a student visa? Usually that takes time, right? You guys just met two weeks ago. Something’s up.”
Mary was way more observant that I wanted her to be at this point. “Look, it’s kind of complicated.”
“You dumped Jamie over there and show up with a random guy. I’m pretty sure I already knew it was complicated.”
“It’s complicated like I can’t explain it all. It’s not really something I’m allowed to explain. Just know that no illegalities are involved.”
Mary nursed her coffee, eyeing me suspiciously. “You know I’m here if you ever need to talk, right?”
I looked down, nodding. I wished I could confide in her. It would be wonderful to have a normal friend. She could confirm I wasn’t crazy. Not yet, anyway. “
Thanks, Mary. That means a lot.”
“Even if there are illegalities, I promise not to turn you in. At least at first.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “You’re such a great friend.”
“Reese and I could stage an intervention instead of handing you to the cops. If worse came to worse, we’d bail you out of jail.”
“I couldn’t ask for any more.”
We sat watching it snow outside. We talked about Mary’s family, Liam, all kinds of things. We danced around the unmentionable subject, and she never pushed any more. Would she still be my friend if she knew how tangled my life had become? It felt like she would.
After we finished our coffees, we headed back to check on the guys. As Mary parked, a snowball hit our windshield. Looking up, Reese was hanging out his second story window with another one ready. Mary sighed. “He is such a mess for you, Ashlyn.”
“We’re just friends.”
“To you. Now you’ve brought Liam home. This is going to be interesting, you know that, right?”
I nodded and opened the car door. I ducked behind it as the second snowball slammed into the window. “Ah come on, Ash! That was my last one!”
I smiled up at him sweetly. “Good. Now go play with Liam.”
He rolled his eyes and pulled the window shut. Mary laughed. “Wanna help me bring some stuff over to your place instead of dealing with the guys?”
“Sure.”
Even though things were becoming complicated, I was thankful to have friends that made it a little easier to feel normal. Normality was hard to come by these days. Having two perfectly human friends was going to be nice.
SIXTEEN
Classes resumed the day after we returned, so after getting a school map and class list for Liam from the main office, we began touring the school.
Liam was attempting to make a path from class to class on his map. “Do we have any classes together? And why is my locker in the complete opposite direction of almost all of my classes? That seems a bit counterproductive to the time limit between classes.”