by Talia Jager
Azura must have seen the look on my face, because she changed the subject to Nessa and the boy she had just begun dating. After dinner, she ushered my grandmother and aunt out of the house. “I apologize for them. They’ve had a hard time understanding what I did and why you’re not here with us. I assure you they mean well.”
“I know.” I stood. “I’m going to walk Kallan out.”
“Of course.”
Kallan followed me outside. The sun had set, leaving the sky full of pink, purple, and turquoise stars. Seeing all the faeries that were out and watching us, I opted for a quick kiss instead of a long, drawn-out one. I didn’t want anyone saying I wasn’t being proper by showing public displays of affection.
“Why don’t you come hang out here with some of your friends?” I suggested to Kallan before our final goodnight.
“You think the light fey would be okay with that?”
“They have to get used to it. We might have to force the change to happen.”
Kallan nodded. “Okay. I’ll come hang out.” He blew me a kiss and walked away.
Once he was out of sight, I went back inside. Azura was waiting for me on the couch. I plopped down and tucked my feet under me. We talked for a long time about my vacation, school, and just about everything but what was expected of me as an Aurorian. I didn’t push it. Azura was wise and I trusted her to know when I’d need to hear it.
That night, I lay in my bed in my room at Azura’s. The windows didn’t have glass, so I could hear all the night creatures. I found them peaceful. Every now and then a gentle breeze blew through my room. The last thought that floated through my mind before I fell asleep was how easily I could get used to this.
The second day, I sat in the yard surrounding the faery homes watching Kallan and his friends play some version of human rugby. It was just him and the four friends he had brought. The adult light faeries stood back watching, but the young ones didn’t seem to care that dark faeries were playing on their land. They were running about playing. The faery teens also didn’t seem to care much, but they hadn’t joined in either.
Violet was flirting with the blond faery she had a crush on, even though I knew he wasn’t the one she would marry. I had used her mother’s talent of seeing the future to see my own future, but had seen Violet getting married instead and it wasn’t to the boy she was with right now. I hadn’t told her though. It was her future and she needed to find it in her own time.
Nessa was with one of her friends lying on the ground. I ran my palm over the soft green grass and didn’t even jump when a ladybug crawled on my hand. I was beginning to enjoy nature and just the overall way the faeries lived.
Drake plopped down next to me. “Hey.”
“Hi.”
“How’s Sierra? I haven’t seen her in a few days.” Drake was a light faery in love with my human best friend.
“Good. Misses you every minute you’re apart.”
He grinned. “I feel the same.”
“You know she’s been through a lot.”
“I know.”
“Don’t hurt her, Drake.”
“I don’t want to, but what…what are we going to do? She can’t live here.”
“Is there some sort of law that says that?” I asked.
Drake’s expression was blank. “I don’t know. I guess. It’s always been said that humans don’t live in the faery realm. Glamour covers the whole realm. She eats the spelled food to see everything, but it only lasts a little while.”
“Could you live there?”
“I’ve thought about it, but I can’t imagine leaving this place. And then there’s the aging thing.”
Drake was right. There were a lot of differences, including the time it took faeries to age compared to humans. I didn’t mind knowing I would live longer if I stayed in the here. I had to admit the faery world was a pleasant change from the busyness and technology of the human realm. I also had to admit I missed my favorite TV shows.
“We’ll figure something out. If it’s meant to be…”
“It is,” he interrupted me.
I met his brown eyes. “Then we’ll find a way.” I looked back at Kallan and his friends playing. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Yes.”
“Grab a few of your friends and go play with Kallan.”
Drake didn’t hesitate. “Sure! Kallan is a great guy. I’ve gotten to know him a little bit.”
“Now we just need everyone else to understand that.”
“I’m on it.” He sent me a huge grin and winked.
Drake disappeared for a few minutes and then came back with a few light faeries. They joined in the game and soon they were all having fun, hooting and hollering. The smile on Kallan’s face made my day.
Azura sat down next to me gracefully. “You did it,” she said. “You’re bringing the light and dark together.”
I looked around at the faeries who were so tense-looking before. They definitely seemed more relaxed now. There were some who still had pained expressions on their faces, but it was an improvement. “I don’t think one game of rugby is going to bridge the gap.”
“It’s a start.”
When the game was over, Kallan’s friends mingled and Kallan flopped on the ground and laid his head in my lap. I smiled as I traced his face with my finger. “Thank you for coming,” I said.
“It worked out well. Getting Drake involved helped out a lot.”
“He says you’ve gotten to know each other.”
“Yeah, we’ve hung out. He’s got it bad for that friend of yours.”
“I know. I need to find a way to help them be together.” I traced Kallan’s lips. “Are you living in the cottage now?”
“Yes. It’s much more a home than that castle ever was.”
I shivered as images of the castle I was kept captive in flooded my mind. “I’m glad you moved. Are you painting?”
“I am.” His blue-green eyes twinkled. “I’ll show my new ones to you soon.”
“I’d like that. What was your mother’s name?” I didn’t know what made me think of her, but I did. I hoped he wouldn’t be upset.
“Radella,” he answered.
“Pretty. Tell me about her…if…if you want to.”
“I do. It’s just hard. I know it’s been many years, but it still feels so fresh.”
“I’m sorry.”
He stared at the pale pink sky. “She was beautiful. Her wings were black with green and blue in them. Her hair long and dark. She was an artist as you know and always had me making things. My father didn’t approve. It wasn’t a manly thing to do. Sometimes my mother snuck me to the cottage to do that sort of thing.”
I could totally see Varwik being like that.
“My mother loved my father, or who my father used to be. He changed at some point and she didn’t like it. They fought a lot. Sometimes, when I think about it, I wonder if she was thinking of leaving him.” He had this vulnerable look to him when he talked about his mom. “She would have liked you.” He gazed into my eyes.
“How do you know? You were only five when she died.”
“I just know. She had a good heart. She saw the good in my father and she tried so hard to make that part of him…dominant, but she never did succeed and after she died, my father got rid of all the good in him.”
“That’s sad.”
“I worry that I’ll become like him.”
My hand froze and I shook my head. “No, Kallan, you won’t. You’re nothing like him.”
“I was when we first met.”
He had a point there. I mashed my lips, trying to think of the right words. “You were just a hormonal boy under your father’s thumb.”
Kallan laughed, but then his face turned se
rious. “You bring out the good in me, Rylie. If I lost you—”
“You won’t.” I leaned down and kissed him to shut him up.
The rest of my time in the faery realm, I spent with family. After visiting with Móraí, I devoted time to be with Oren’s parents.
Maimeó and Daideó walked with me along the stream. “It’s nice to get to spend time with you, Oleander.”
“It’s overdue,” I commented. “I’m sorry for that.”
Maimeó’s face softened. “We understand, dear. It’s been very overwhelming.”
“Please don’t be mad at my mother. She only gave me away to protect me.”
“I wish she had told us. We thought you had died. We lost both our son and granddaughter that day.”
“I understand, but she was scared the wrong person would find out. She didn’t even tell her own mother.” I tried to make them see her point of view, but I had a feeling only time would help. “I’d love to know more about my father,” I said, changing the subject.
“Oren was a good boy. Bright, full of life, and a hard worker,” Maimeó said. “He fell in love with your mother and they wed shortly after. It wasn’t too long ’til they found out you were on the way. Oren was thrilled. He couldn’t wait to become a father. Family was very important to him. But I guess…he felt unimportant, ignored, something, and thus began his thirst for power—” Maimeó choked back a sob.
Daideó put his arm around her. “We’ll never know what happened. Why he wanted access to dark magick. Why he was willing to trade you for it. Was it something we did? Did we not show him enough love?”
“You shouldn’t blame yourselves. It’s not your fault. I’m sure you did the best you could. I can tell you are good and loving. Sometimes things happen outside of our control. Oren might be gone, but I’m here now, and I’d like to be part of your lives.”
My grandparents smiled and opened their arms to me. I spent the rest of the day hanging out and getting to know Oren’s family.
The longer I was there, the more I felt like a faery and less like a human. I wasn’t sure what that meant for my future. It felt like my days in the human realm were numbered.
Chapter Three
When my time in the faery realm was up, Kallan walked me back to my house. We sat on a fallen tree just outside the boundary. “So I still can’t convince you to go to school in our realm?” he asked as his fingers played with mine.
“I’d really like to finish school in the human world,” I stated for the millionth time.
He nodded. “Okay. Then I’ll go too.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.” He waggled his eyebrows at me.
I smiled, keeping to myself how happy those words made me. “It might be hard.”
“How so?”
“Adam.”
Kallan’s face fell. “He better stay away from you.”
“I’m not worried about him trying to win me back or his attitude toward me. I’m concerned that we’ll hurt him. Maybe we shouldn’t kiss or anything in front of him,” I suggested, knowing Kallan wouldn’t like that idea.
“If that makes you happy.” He reached up and ran the back of his hand down my cheek.
I gulped. “Though I’m not sure I’ll be able to do that.” I pressed my lips against his and let the passion flow through me into him. My whole body tingled with excitement and my wings fluttered. “This just feels so right,” I muttered when we pulled apart.
“I tried telling you that. You were just too stubborn to listen,” he said with a rascally grin.
My cheeks burned red. “I’m sorry. I know I was selfish and immature. I guess it just felt like my perfect little bubble burst and I was struggling to hold on to what I knew. Do you understand?”
“Of course I do. I just feel like we missed out on so much time together.”
“But we have the rest of eternity.”
“We do.” He gently brushed a piece of hair out of my face and then kissed me again.
The night before school began, my mom took me out for a treat. Being the end of August, it was still hot and muggy, so we went for ice cream. Mom got a shake and I got a huge ice cream sundae.
Mom took a few long sips of her shake. “I love you, Rylie.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I love you, too, Mom.”
“I just wanted you to know that.” She took another drink. “How’s Kallan?”
“Good. He’s going to school here.”
That piece of news didn’t seem to faze her. “Great. That’ll give you time to really get to know each other.”
“Yeah. So you’re okay with me being with him?”
After another sip, she answered, “Yes. I know your father isn’t quite with us yet, but he will be. Once he sees how right this all is for you.”
“I hope you’re right. I love both of you and I don’t want you to be disappointed or hurt.”
Mom put her hand on mine. “We won’t be, Rylie. We’ve always wanted you to be happy.”
“Kallan makes me happy.”
“I know.”
On the way home, I thought about how lucky I was to have my mom. She had accepted the news of not being my biological mother very well and continued to love me unconditionally. Not many people out there would do that.
I didn’t sleep well that night. First day of school jitters, I supposed. I was a senior this year, which meant a lot more responsibilities as well as fun things to do. Prom. Senior all-nighter. Senior skip day. I had to keep my head on straight and get through the classes, so I could enjoy the fun stuff.
Monday morning, my best friend, Sierra, picked me up for school in her black convertible. My heart flip-flopped as she pulled into a spot in the school parking lot a few rows behind Adam’s truck.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said, patting my hand. Sierra was the only other human besides my parents that knew my big secret and she was very cool with it.
I blew out a big breath and nodded. “You’re right. It’s just…I haven’t seen him all summer. I feel like shit for breaking his heart.”
“I know. But it’s been a couple of months. I’m sure he’s moved on.”
I hadn’t thought of that. What if he had a new girlfriend? How would I feel about that? Would I be jealous? Did I have a right to be? “Do you know if he has?” I asked, wondering if she had heard something.
Sierra checked out the make-up around her green eyes in the car visor mirror. “I don’t know. I’m just saying he’s a good guy and many girls have drooled over him throughout the years, but he was always with you and always stayed faithful.”
He had. I hadn’t.
“Rylie, it’s okay. You didn’t know who you were and now you do. You’ve found your soul mate.” She looked up past me. “Who happens to be standing over there waiting for you…with Drake?” Her eyebrows raised and her lips curled up in a huge grin. “What’s he doing here?”
She couldn’t get out of the car fast enough and before I knew it, she was across the parking lot and into the arms of a very handsome faery. The sunlight brought out the golden highlights in her brown hair. She covered his face with kisses before taking his hands.
I climbed out of the car and strolled over.
“What are you doing here?” Sierra asked when they finally broke apart.
Drake smiled. “I’m going attend school here too.”
“What? No way? Why?” She shouted off questions.
“Figured if Kallan could go to school here, why shouldn’t I?”
I shot Kallan a look of gratitude and closed the space between us. I could feel the heat radiating and bit my lip.
“Hey, beautiful.” He smiled.
“Hey, yourself.”
“Ready to
do this?”
I shook my head. “I think I need a kiss first.”
“Really? Thought you didn’t want to do that.”
“Oh, I want to.” That’s all I had to say and his lips were on mine, moving quickly and gently at the same time. He pulled back and I smiled up at him. As I turned, I noticed Adam across the lawn staring at us. “Crap…” I mumbled. I had done what I had hoped not to. Let Adam see us together. Adam quickly ducked inside the school.
“He’ll be okay,” Kallan said. “My offer still stands.”
“What offer?”
“To use my mind control to help him forget things.”
“No.” I didn’t like that idea at all.
I secretly hoped Adam and I didn’t have any classes together. I dreaded our first conversation. The last time I spoke to him was when we broke up. I had wanted to call him and talk, but never had the nerve.
We all had to gather in the auditorium and pick up our schedules and locker combinations. Sierra’s, Drake’s, Kallan’s, and my lockers were all in the same hallway. I checked the combination to make sure it worked and was clean, but otherwise there was nothing to do in it. I closed it and walked over to Sierra.
“Lucky you,” I said with a grin.
“I know! What a surprise. I’m so excited!” she squealed.
“Make sure you focus on your grades.”
“Yes, Mom,” she said with a laugh.
“I’m serious. Look what happened to me last year. I didn’t focus and almost failed all my classes.”
“You fixed it.”
“Barely,” I said with a sigh, remembering the tests I had to retake.
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to jeopardize my senior year and I won’t let you either.”
“Thanks.” I yanked her schedule out of her hands. “Oh good, we have three classes together.”