by Julia Crane
“What has?” His lips quirked up slightly.
“Being with you these past few days.”
Kallan’s cheeks turned pink. “I enjoyed your company too.” He reached forward and ran his hand down one of my wings. That wonderful thrill went through my body, and I closed my eyes to hide how much I liked it. “You could come home with me now.”
Part of my body screamed “yes!” but rational me stomped that part out. “I can’t,” I muttered. “Not yet.” I still wanted to find a way out of the promise.
Kallan nodded, disappointment in his eyes. “I know.”
“I’m sorry.” I hurried up the steps and into the house before he could say any more. I was afraid he’d say something that would lure me to his world sooner than I was supposed to.
The door slammed shut behind me.
“Rylie?” Mom’s voice drifted from the kitchen.
“Yeah,” I answered meekly.
There was a beat of silence before my parents both rushed into the hallway and threw their arms around me. The hug was tight and filled with grateful greetings and a teary “Thank you, God” from my mother.
After a minute, Dad stepped away and looked over me. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
“Hungry?”
Again, I shook no.
He sighed. “I’m not sure if I should be happy or mad.”
“I’m sorry.” When my eyes filled with tears, I got angry at myself and took a deep breath to fight them off.
“Why?” my father asked.
“To get some questions answered.”
My father’s face softened. “I could have helped you if you had to get answers. We could have found them together.”
“I’m not sure you could have,” I told him.
Mom stood beside him, her arms wrapped around her chest as she sniffled. “What kind of answers?”
“We had to talk to some...” I paused, not knowing what I wanted to tell them, “creatures in the faery land to find out where he was.”
“Creatures?”
“Yeah.”
Mom and Dad exchanged glances, and she said softly, “I don’t like the sound of that.”
Dad put a hand on Mom’s shoulder. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
I remembered Oren’s ambivalence. His cold eyes. “I found…”
I must have trailed off and been silent for too long, because Dad asked sharply, “What, Rylie?”
“My biological father. My faery father.”
I watched as my father’s face transformed from concerned father to wounded puppy. Mom, who must have known how he felt after learning about Azura, slipped an arm around his waist in support.
“And?” she asked.
“He didn’t want to talk.”
“That’s it?” Dad asked.
“He made it very clear he didn’t want to be bothered.”
“Oh, honey.” Mom came forward and ran her hands down my hair, then cupped my face. “That must have been hard to hear.”
“I just wanted answers, not a relationship. I guess I won’t be getting either.” I shrugged. “Is it okay if I go call Adam and Sierra?”
Mom opened her mouth to speak, but Dad put a hand on her arm to silence her. “Yes, but we have something to say first.”
“Okay.”
“You can’t just take off like that, so you’re grounded for two weeks.”
I was shocked. My parents had never grounded me like that before. Maybe for a day or two, but never weeks. Then again, I hadn’t taken off before. But I wasn’t stupid; I knew I deserved it. I nodded. “Okay.”
“Seriously,” Dad said. “No more running off. I think you know we’re as understanding as we can be about all of this. Just come talk to us. We’ll try to work something out.”
“You do need to go see Azura though,” Mom said. Dad shot her a look. “She’s been very worried about you, and I’m sure you need to tell her what happened.”
“Probably should,” I agreed.
Dad spoke up again. “Other than that, you’re grounded.”
“I get it.”
Mom hugged me one more time. “We’re glad you’re home, sweetie.”
My shoulders slumped as I trudged up the stairs. In my room, I took a deep breath. The smell of home filled my lungs and made me smile. Grounded or not, I was happy to be back. I plugged in my cell phone and called Adam first. Thankfully, my parents didn’t take my phone away, too.
“Rylie?” he answered, his voice betraying not only worry but irritation.
“Hi.”
“Where have you been?”
“Family issues.”
“You seem to be saying that a lot lately,” he said hotly. In a more even tone, he went on. “Are your parents okay?”
“Yeah. It’s a long story.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I…couldn’t. What have you been doing?”
There was a long moment where I thought he was going to push me for answers. If he got too direct with the questions, I wouldn’t be able to evade him since I couldn’t lie. I knew it wasn’t fair to him that I disappeared for two days and didn’t call or text. If he thought badly of me for it, I wouldn’t blame him. I hadn’t been the best girlfriend lately.
Finally, Adam sighed. “Touring the college, sightseeing, stuff like that.”
Oh, right! He was checking out Southern Cal to see if he really wanted to go to school there. “I’m sorry,” I told him sadly, and I was. “It’s a good thing you’re not here.”
“Why?” His voice was incredulous.
“I’m grounded,” I told him.
“You’re what?”
“Grounded for two weeks.”
“What did you do? It must have been bad. You never get grounded.”
“Family issues.”
“That’s all you’re going to say?” he said angrily.
“That’s what it is.”
I hated myself. Not just for being unable to come clean with Adam about Azura and my heritage, but for the time I’d just spent with Kallan and the way we’d cuddled as if we were already married. Adam didn’t deserve this, so I couldn’t very well be mad at him for being mad at me.
Adam let out a long breath, as if his anger were deflating. “So I won’t be able to see you Sunday?”
“No. I’m so sorry.”
“I guess it won’t be so bad waiting one more day.”
“I miss you,” I said honestly.
“I miss you, too.”
After we hung up, I called Sierra and told her the same thing, only in a little more detail since she knew my secret.
“I can’t believe he was so mean,” she said after I told her what Oren had said to me.
“I guess he just hates me. Maybe because I’m the reason he’s an outcast? Or the reason he never got the dark magick he wanted so badly.”
“Still...that’s no way to treat your flesh and blood.”
I couldn’t argue with her. “So now I have to go tell Azura what happened and then spend the next two weeks grounded.”
“That sucks about being grounded.”
“Yup.”
“Ry,” Sierra continued, “I want to come with you.”
I groaned. “I don’t know if you can.”
“Please?” Sierra whined. “My life sucks. I want to visit your faery world. It sounds so magical. Like anything can happen, you know?”
“I’m afraid you might be disappointed.”
Sierra’s laughter pealed across the phone line. “Let me make that decision. But somehow I doubt it. I’ve spent the last few months babysitting when I wanted to be on dates or hanging out with you. Getting up in the middle of the night when my sister wouldn’t. I need adventure.” Her voice grew quiet. “I need an escape, Ry.”
I punched my pillow once, but it didn’t really vent my frustrations as well as I’d hoped. “I’m going to have to go talk to someone. Figure out a way to get you there.”
> “I thought you’re supposed to be this big shot over there. Like future queen or something.”
I laughed. “Not yet. And I didn’t grow up there. I don’t really know what’s possible. Will you give me some time to figure out what I can do?”
“You’ll let me know?”
“Of course.”
“Okay.”
“Look, I gotta go see Azura. Talk to you later?”
“Sure.”
After we said our goodbyes, I looked out the window towards the forest. I had a lot to tell Azura, and I wasn’t sure how she was going to react to the news about Oren.
Better get this over with sooner rather than later.
I wasn’t sure where I was going. I wasn’t positive I could find my way to Azura’s house, though I liked the idea of trying anyway—trying to see if I could make it happen.
It didn’t matter, because I found Azura in the forest on her cell phone.
“Yes, Angela, she’s here now. I will. Thank you. Goodbye.” She tapped the screen on her phone and slid it into her pocket, giving me a warm smile. “Your mom called to tell me you were coming. She was worried about you in the woods alone.”
“Oh.” There went my plan to prove to myself I could find my way to the faery world by myself.
Azura held a hand out, indicating for us to start walking. “Shall we go talk?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
The silent walk to her house took no time at all. Soon, we were seated at her kitchen table, both of us with glasses of juice and a basket full of freshly baked rolls. I launched into my tale.
When I got to the part where Oren told me to go away, Azura gasped, her face hardening.
“So we left and came home,” I finished, my hands kneaded together in my lap and my juice long forgotten. Dredging up that meeting between Oren and me had shaken me. I didn’t want it to affect me, but it did.
Azura was quiet for a minute, then she said, “I apologize for the way he treated you.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“I feel that it is.” She patted my hand. “How did he look?”
“Different than what I thought. Strong, but old.”
“If he’s been in the human world, he’s aged faster.” She glanced out the window. “I was hoping you’d get the answers you wanted.”
“‘Disappointment is part of life.’” I quoted my dad.
“Mmm.”
I’d said my piece about Oren, so now I had to ask a favor for my best friend. “Remember when you said it might be okay to bring Sierra here?”
“Yes,” Azura said hesitantly.
“Is it okay? She really wants to come, and I feel I owe her for keeping my secret. She’s always there for me—no matter what.”
“This means a lot to you?”
I nodded. “It really does.”
She took a deep breath. After a couple minutes, she answered, “Okay. You’ll have to talk to your cousins.”
“Why?”
“They’re the ones to help get her here without harm.” She shrugged. “Very well, Oleander. Your friend may come.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Really.”
“Thank you!” I haphazardly threw my arms around her, and then realized what I had just done. I stepped back. “Sorry...I...uh...”
“It’s okay. I’m glad I could make you happy.” Her lips were curved in a soft smile.
I chided myself for showing so much emotion. Azura was okay. In fact, I was learning to like her. But my mom was still my mom and I didn’t want Azura to get any ideas that I’d be moving here.
She glanced out the kitchen window, and then smiled. “Why don’t you go outside for a while? Enjoy the twilight and search out your cousins.”
That sounded like a good idea. I finished my now-warm juice, stood up, and placed the empty cup in the sink before I headed outside.
There was an energy in the sweet-smelling air, like the electricity before a thunderstorm. As I skipped down the cobblestone pathway behind Azura’s house, I took several deep breaths, and for some reason, felt immediately better.
There were no sounds here like there were at home. No traffic passing in the neighborhood, no planes casting shadows on the ground as they angled in to land at the airport. There was a beautiful absence of noise.
I saw Nessa and Violet in the field next door. Violet had an easel and a canvas set up and was painting while Nessa lolled on the grass with a handful of wildflowers. I cut through Azura’s garden of herbs, touching the blooming heads of chamomile and lavender, then jumped the white picket fence into their yard
“Hi, Oleander,” Nessa greeted me as I walked up.
“Hi.” I tried to put on a cheerful face. “What are you doing?”
“Painting,” Violet said in a “duh” voice.
I laughed. “Well, yeah, I see that. I didn’t know you could paint.”
Violet shrugged. “There’s a lot we don’t know about each other. We’ll catch up over time.” She put her brush down on the edge of the easel and turned to look into my eyes, flipping her long blonde hair out of her face. “Heard about your trip.”
“Who hasn’t?” I asked.
“Nobody.”
I laughed to myself, and then hesitated. I hated asking a favor of them when I hardly knew them. “Azura told me you two could help me get a human friend to this realm.”
Violet’s eyes grew big. “Who?”
“My best friend, Sierra.”
“Oh. Thought you might be bringing your boyfriend here.”
“No. He doesn’t know about me yet. About this.”
Nessa crossed her legs Indian-style on the emerald grass. “You gonna tell him?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“This Sierra knows about us?”
“Yes.”
“She can be trusted?”
“Yes. I trust her with my life.”
“I don’t know if it’s such a great idea. Humans don’t belong in our world,” Nessa said uncertainly.
I felt panic rise in my chest. They couldn’t tell me no. It was too important to Sierra and I wasn’t going to let her down.
“I agree with Nessa,” Violet said with more conviction.
I glanced back and forth between the two of them, hoping they were joking, but their faces were set.
“I didn’t want to have to do this, but you know with my power I can use yours and get her in here anyway. But I’d really prefer your help,” I threatened, but in reality I had no idea how to use their powers.
They looked at each other and then back at me and shrugged. “Okay. We can make something for her to be able to get here. But you’ll be responsible for her.”
A smile spread across my face. “Thanks, guys.”
I left them to their project and wandered around the fields a while longer, taking in the sights and smells. My mind was in overdrive. Human world or fey world? What would I do here in this world? Would I be bored? So much time and not a lot to do. Or maybe there was a lot going on behind the scenes, stuff I didn’t see right now.
In an ideal world, I would be able to merge the two.
When I got back to Azura’s house, she was standing at the kitchen counter stirring a bowl of what looked like cake batter.
“Were you able to find your cousins?” she asked, offering me a spoon to lick.
“Yes. They’re brainstorming.” I stuck the spoon in my mouth and groaned. “Heavenly.”
“I am a bit worried about your friend coming, but I’m also delighted to be able to entertain a human in my own home.” Azura pulled an already buttered cake pan close and picked up the bowl to dump the batter in. “Will you stay for dinner and cake, Oleander?”
I gave her a hug, just a quick squeeze around the shoulders. “I’d love to.”
After dinner and a slice of moist chocolate cake, I helped Azura do dishes.
The water sloshed in the sink as Azura pulled out the last clean dish and passed it to me to rin
se and dry. “Would you like to stay the night, Oleander?”
I shook my head. “No, I need to get home. I’m in enough trouble as it is.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.” She sighed, pulling the drain plug to empty the sink. “I can’t help but feel that is entirely my fault.”
“No, it’s not. I chose to chase after Oren.”
Azura dried her hands, eyeing me with affection on her face. She touched my cheek. “Let’s get you home.”
We walked out of the tree house and into the forest, where birds chirped and piskies fluttered around, trying to entice us. Their sparkling, colorful forms made me think of Kallan.
Azura startled me out of my thoughts. “Thank you for coming and talking with me.”
I nodded. “I wanted you to hear it firsthand. Although it seems word travels fast around here”
“That it does. But I still appreciate hearing it from you. I guess I didn’t want to believe that Oren could be so cruel to his own daughter.”
“He’s a real winner,” I said wryly, trying to lighten the mood.
“He wasn’t always that way.” Azura looked down at the ground. “But he gave me you.”
Only to be taken away. I kept those thoughts to myself. “I still want out of the promise,” I said.
“I know. I’ll keep working on it. There has to be a way. Something we are overlooking.”
“I hope so. Time is passing so quickly.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
Everyone kept saying that, but no one was coming up with solutions.
“Want to try something?” Azura stopped and turned to me with a sparkle in her eye.
“Um...sure?” I responded curiously.
“Since we’re out here, I thought it might be neat to use our powers together.”
“Really?”
She raised her hands in response and the wind picked up. A sudden small breeze whipped by my face, tousling my hair. “Do as I do.”
I raised my hands like hers. I swirled my arms like she did. A second wind sprang up, sending a few flower petals flying. “Cool,” I whispered.
“Now make it grow.” She spread her arms, and I copied.
The tall grass and bushes nearby rustled. The two merged together into one big windstorm. Azura was on one side, and I was on the other. It began to take shape like that of a twister, only about ten feet high. The trees on either side began to bend and shake.