“Wait,” I said, looking around. “What are you going to do … after you take me home?”
He blinked, and a little grey sadness crept in around his eyes. “I will return to my house, of course, because …” He forced a smile. “I cannot return to Seelie, even after … all this.”
“Why not?” I asked. “Didn’t the truth … set you free?”
“Free, yes,” he said, still smiling sadly, “but … it did not free me of the consequences of my actions. As the Queen of Winter said … now we have enemies here. But it’s all right.” He stepped a little closer. “I rather enjoy Earth, all things considered.” And his smile grew a little wider as he scooped me up into his arms. There was a great rush of color and light around us, and then the magical world of Faerie faded away.
Chapter 43
Before I’d left my room, it would have seemed to me that the mundane world of the humans could not possibly compare to the glamour and magic in Faerie.
Wrong.
I couldn’t have been happier to be back on Earth.
I snapped back in as though I’d never left, into my familiar room that smelled of lavender and vanilla. I took a deep breath as Lockwood set me down.
Everything was just as I left it. My bed was a crumpled mess of blankets. The tea that I’d made was still steaming on my bedside table, probably way over steeped now. There was a pile of clothes on the floor of my closet from changing three times before school that morning.
“Holy cow … we made it back.” I whispered to him, looking around.
My eyes fell on the little ceramic unicorn on my dresser, and it made me smile. I crossed over to it and picked it up, turning it over in my hands. “I wish I could have seen a unicorn properly … without that weird flickering vision power thing.”
Lockwood gave me a sympathetic smile. “Next time, perhaps?” He paused. “On that note...I think I may have an explanation for your ability to see beyond the glamours of Faerie – if you'd like to hear it.
“Sure.” The room dipped slightly and I hastened back to the bed to sit down again. “Whoa. Feeling a bit dizzy.”
“It’s those return symptoms I mentioned.” Lockwood looked apologetic. “It shouldn’t last very long.”
I blinked. “I think it’s already a little better.” I nodded at him reassuringly. It didn’t matter if I was dizzy or caught a cold or whatever. It only mattered that I was back where I belonged.
“Right, well...you recall the avara, yes?” Lockwood asked, eyes focused on mine as I gave him a nod of concurrence. “They were men who, through the magic Faerie, became reflective of their true nature after time spent in the world. I believe your ability to see beyond was a similar manifestation of the world's magic working upon you-”
“Because I am – I was – a liar,” I said, feeling a little chill wash over me.
He gave a subtle nod. “Exactly.”
My mouth felt a little dry. “What...what would I have become if I'd stayed in Faerie? As a liar, I mean?”
Lockwood stiffened uncomfortably, and looked away. “I don't know. But...” He looked right at me, for a second, green eyes dampened in their enthusiasm by what he was telling me. “I expect it would not have been good.”
“Cassandra!” Mom’s voice pierced the air before I had a chance to answer, and my stomach plummeted. Hard to tell which caused it to dive worse; Mom's yell or the knowledge that if I'd stayed in Faerie...
I would have become something else entirely. Some monster on the order of the avara.
And all because of who I was.
Because of the choices I made...to lie.
Lockwood’s eyes grew wide at my mother's shout, but he placed a finger to his lips. With a wink, he flew out the window.
I ran after him, both hands smacking the sill as I peered out into the night.
But he was gone.
“Tricky Seelie,” I whispered into the humid night air. It felt so … heavy, so real after the magical lightness of Faerie.
It was so good to be back.
“Cassandra!”
I turned my back on the window, hurrying over to the door and pulling it open. “Yeah, Mom?”
She said something too quiet for me to hear. Obviously not to me. Presumably to Dad.
I sighed. Probably complaining about my lack of a response. “Yes, Mom?” I asked, a little louder.
“Get down here.” Her voice carrying up the stairs. Her tone meant business.
Wait, was I wrong? Had we been gone longer than I thought?
What was I walking into?
I rubbed my hands over my face, tiredness of the last few days like a shroud blanketing itself over me. I looked at my newly-spruced up gown and shrugged, sliding it off in a hurry. I grabbed a sweatshirt and slid into it, kicking off my beautiful shoes of faerie magic. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
Back to normal, I thought, as I tossed aside the gown in favor of a pair of jeans. I headed for the stairs, buttoning them as I went, not eager to make her wait any longer.
As I descended, I tried to refresh my memory. What had been going on the night that Lockwood and I left? Had Mom been angry with me?
Oh, yeah … I’d been late coming home from school because of the car accident. I’d caught hell, and was now exiled to my room. Where I’d totally been for like … minutes before the Faerie excursion. Definitely living up to the terms of my parentally imposed punishment.
Except … I really hadn’t. Not that they’d know, but … a little feeling gnawed in my belly. I’d been gone for days, absolutely violating the “Stay in your room” doctrine. There wasn’t anything much I could do about that, though …
Right?
I wondered if the sudden exhaustion that was making my eyelids feel like they were made of lead was because I was fae-lagged … Lockwood had sort of warned me that it would happen. I had been awake for at least a whole day by now. When had I slept last? When we were camping before we even reached Seelie territory?
I saw Mom standing in the kitchen as I reached the bottom stair. She didn’t look as angry as she sounded. As I padded across the hardwood floor toward the kitchen, she turned to look at me, and gave me the most Mom look that she could.
It wasn’t because she was angry, but she was definitely annoyed. I had done something wrong, obviously. It couldn’t have been the Faerie trip, could it? How would she have known …?
I came around the corner and saw Dad sitting in one of the barstools in front of the kitchen island, turned and looking into the living room. Maybe the television was on? But I couldn’t hear it.
Maybe something awful had happened on the news. Tampa was pretty safe, but that didn’t mean that it didn’t have its fair share of murders and other crimes. Maybe it had something to do with one of Mom’s cases at her firm, or one of Dad’s patients from the hospital.
Maybe my school was blown up. Maybe dinner had blown up. I mean, it smelled fine, but there was no telling what might have happened in the minutes I’d been gone. Dad could have accidentally nuked it. He’d done it before.
But as I came around the corner into the kitchen and looked into the living room, I froze, my heart leaping into my throat.
Mill was standing there.
In my house.
In front of my parents.
I stared at him, and he stared at me, and suddenly …
I understood what was happening.
He had been talking to my parents. And I didn’t have to think very hard to know about what. Why else would he reveal himself like this?
The blood was rushing in my ears, so loud I couldn’t even hear my heart beating. Though I was sure it was thundering right now. Mill could probably hear it all the way across the room.
He was staring at me with a sort of sad, sympathetic look. It’s like he thought that he was doing something good that I wouldn’t understand. Throwing himself on some unseen sword.
“Mill came by a little while ago,” Mom said. It was really weird he
aring her say his name. “We’ve been having a very pleasant talk.”
I shot him a look. “Oh?” My look said something different: Why did you come here?
I wiped my sweaty hands on the side of my pants. “Okay …?” I asked. I gave them room to tell me. Standard practice for dealing with a lie—let the person you’re talking to set the expectations. That let you lie accordingly in response.
“He came to tell us about the accident this afternoon,” Dad said, his eyes turning to look at me above his glasses, like I was a patient who needed to lose weight but lived on a diet of gummy bears and Pepsi.
“He said he picked you up from school, and that the accident happened just before he dropped you off,” Mom said, folding her arms across her chest and giving Mill an appreciative nod.
I looked at each of them in turn, waiting. Letting them set those expectations. I half figured they’d say something about pixies? Or that he was a vampire, but …
Obviously he wouldn’t tell them that.
“Why didn’t you tell us what happened?” Mom asked me. She looked so serious.
I looked down at my arms, and I couldn’t see the scratches from the accident anymore. They had faded while I was in Faerie.
“I just didn’t … I just—”
“Cass, Mill told us that you two have been dating for a little while,” Dad said in a gentler voice.
Fear and relief both hit me at once. Fear of the wrath that was sure to follow—and relief to have it finally out in the open.
“He said he wanted to be honest about your relationship.” Mom’s face tightened as she spoke. “That he didn’t want you to have to hide it anymore. He knew how much of a strain it was putting on you to keep it from us.”
I looked over at Mill, and he was watching me, trying to gauge my reaction.
He had done something infuriating but … kind of adorable. He had somehow managed to make life simultaneously harder and better for me.
“He also brought dinner,” Mom added, with a small smile. “Which we kind of need because Dad burned the chicken … again.”
Dad hung his head, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Some day I will learn to use the oven for good and not evil … but it is not this day.”
“Why don’t we all sit down at the table?” Mom asked, gesturing toward the dining room.
As we walked in, the smell of garlic reached my nostrils, strong and making my mouth water. I was surprised I hadn’t noticed it before, and looked at Mill in question. Did you really bring something with garlic?
He just shrugged and smiled. A vampire boyfriend with a giant sense of irony.
Mill was here. My parents knew we were dating.
And we were all about to sit down together and have a family dinner with my vampire boyfriend. After I’d just returned from the magical world of Faerie.
My life was really something since I’d moved to Florida.
I slid into my seat, and Mill sat down beside me. Dad took his place at the head of the table, and Mom at hers across from me. I looked at the veritable feast before us; there was pizza, salad, and steaming garlic knots. They had a delicious, greasy sort of shine in the light, and I caught Mill’s cringe out of the corner of my eye from just being this close to them.
“So, Cassie,” Mom started, spooning salad on her plate. She gave me a surprisingly gentle look, only a little scrutinizing. “Mill told us you’ve been dating for a few weeks?”
I stared at the food before me and realized … I was so not hungry. I nodded my head, trying to resist the feeling that I was going to melt into the floor. My head was spinning, but the up-down motion of the nod helped. It was easier than using my words, anyways.
“And that you met at school?”
I hesitated.
That … was a lie.
I froze, just sitting there, my parents watching, Mill silently egging me on. He brushed my elbow, and I just …
Kept.
Staring.
Because I just … I couldn’t do this anymore.
After everything … after the Summer Court, the queen, Calvor and Roseus … Byron and the Instaphoto gang, and even everything that I went through when I was in New York …
All of my troubles revolved around lies that I either told myself, or that were told to me.
Lying. Lies. Half-truths. Hiding things.
Every single problem I’d faced in these last few months … had come from lies.
And I just couldn’t do it anymore.
So, with everyone watching, I opened up my mouth …
To finally tell the truth.
Cassie Howell Will Return In
HER LYING DAYS ARE DONE
LIARS AND VAMPIRES, BOOK 5
Coming September 18th, 2018.
Get it here!
Author’s Note
Thanks for reading! If you want to know immediately when future books become available, take sixty seconds and sign up for my NEW RELEASE EMAIL ALERTS by CLICKING HERE. I don’t sell your information and I only send out emails when I have a new book out. The reason you should sign up for this is because I don’t always set release dates, and even if you’re following me on Facebook (robertJcrane (Author)) or Twitter (@robertJcrane), it’s easy to miss my book announcements because … well, because social media is an imprecise thing.
Come join the discussion on my website: http://www.robertjcrane.com!
Cheers,
Robert J. Crane
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Editing by Sarah Barbour in her antepenultimate editing performance.
Proofing by Lillie of Lillie's Literary Service (https://lilliesls.wordpress.com) and Jo Evans of Raj of India.
Cover by Karri Klawiter (artbykarri.com).
Co-authoring by Kate Hasbrouck.
Formatting by Nick Bowman (http://www.nickbowman-editing.com)
Sanity NOT by Robert J. Crane's family. But I love them anyway.
Other Works by Robert J. Crane
World of Sanctuary
Epic Fantasy
Defender: The Sanctuary Series, Volume One
Avenger: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Two
Champion: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Three
Crusader: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Four
Sanctuary Tales, Volume One - A Short Story Collection
Thy Father’s Shadow: The Sanctuary Series, Volume 4.5
Master: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Five
Fated in Darkness: The Sanctuary Series, Volume 5.5
Warlord: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Six
Heretic: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Seven
Legend: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Eight
Ghosts of Sanctuary: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Nine
Call of the Hero: The Sanctuary Series, Volune Ten* (Coming Late 2018!)
A Haven in Ash: Ashes of Luukessia, Volume One (with Michael Winstone)
A Respite From Storms: Ashes of Luukessia, Volume Two (with Michael Winstone)
A Home in the Hills: Ashes of Luukessia, Volume Three* (with Michael Winstone—Coming Mid to Late 2018!)
The Girl in the Box
and
Out of the Box
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
Alone: The Girl in the Box, Book 1
Untouched: The Girl in the Box, Book 2
Soulless: The Girl in the Box, Book 3
Family: The Girl in the Box, Book 4
Omega: The Girl in the Box, Book 5
Broken: The Girl in the Box, Book 6
Enemies: The Girl in the Box, Book 7
Legacy: The Girl in the Box, Book 8
Destiny: The Girl in the Box, Book 9
Power: The Girl in the Box, Book 10
Limitless: Out of the Box, Book 1
In the Wind: Out of the Box, Book 2
Ruthless: Out of the Box, Book 3
Grounded: Out of the Box, Book 4
Tormented: Out of the Box, Book 5
Vengeful: Out of the Box, Book 6
Sea Change: Out of the Box, Book 7
Painkiller: Out of the Box, Book 8
Masks: Out of the Box, Book 9
Prisoners: Out of the Box, Book 10
Unyielding: Out of the Box, Book 11
Hollow: Out of the Box, Book 12
Toxicity: Out of the Box, Book 13
Small Things: Out of the Box, Book 14
Hunters: Out of the Box, Book 15
Badder: Out of the Box, Book 16
Nemesis: Out of the Box, Book 17
Apex: Out of the Box, Book 18
Time: Out of the Box, Book 19
Driven: Out of the Box, Book 20
Remember: Out of the Box, Book 21
Hero: Out of the Box, Book 22* (Coming September 4, 2018!)
Flashback: Out of the Box, Book 23* (Coming November 2018!)
Walk Through Fire: Out of the Box, Book 24* (Coming in 2019!)
Southern Watch
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
Called: Southern Watch, Book 1
Depths: Southern Watch, Book 2
Corrupted: Southern Watch, Book 3
Unearthed: Southern Watch, Book 4
Legion: Southern Watch, Book 5
Starling: Southern Watch, Book 6
Forsaken: Southern Watch, Book 7
Hallowed: Southern Watch, Book 8* (Coming in 2019!)
The Shattered Dome Series
(with Nicholas J. Ambrose)
Sci-Fi
Voiceless: The Shattered Dome, Book 1
Unspeakable: The Shattered Dome, Book 2* (Coming 2018!)
The Mira Brand Adventures
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
The World Beneath: The Mira Brand Adventures, Book 1
The Tide of Ages: The Mira Brand Adventures, Book 2
The City of Lies: The Mira Brand Adventures, Book 3
Lies in the Dark Page 31