by G. Bailey
“Fifteen to twenty-one. That’s the time that most supernaturals need help with their new powers, and need to learn a bit of independence,” Nath explains. “It will also help promote interacting between races that used to be completely apart.”
“How old are you?” Sophie asks.
“I’m the baby of the group, only twenty-three,” he says. “The rest of the guys are all twenty-five or twenty-six,” he says, and puts his empty plate on the side.
“I think I’m going to like this castle. Or at least try to,” Sophie says with a sigh. “Though I hate strict schools, but at least I won’t have to hide my wolf and be scared of what seems normal to me.”
“I know what it is like to be alone and not around people that understand you. The castle will be full of people your age, looking for their own pack, their own family to fight for, to love and to protect. It’s our nature to search for that,” Nath gently replies, though his eyes stay on me as he says it. I feel like the message was for me, and I don’t really know how to respond to it. It makes me feel vulnerable and alone, which I don’t like.
“He basically means you might make some friends,” I say, joking a bit with Sophie. “Friends other than your iPad, that is.”
“Maybe,” Sophie says, trying to hide her little smile from me. “I’m going to eat in the lounge.” Nath doesn’t say anything as I finish my sandwich and Sophie leaves. I put the empty plate on top of his on the side.
“Thanks for that. It was really nice. I didn’t realise how hungry I was,” I tell him.
“Don’t worry about it. I grew up around shifters, I know we need more food than most,” he says as I look at the empty doorway for a second and look back at Nath who is watching me closely. “Sophie is a good kid and she will fit in well at the castle.”
“Yeah, I hope so. My parents were amazing people, so I’m not surprised she grew up to be lovely and strong,” I tell him.
“Much like her sister,” Nath muses, looking like he wants to say something before he blurts out, “Can I ask you something though?”
“What?” I ask, going to the sink where I start washing the plates off.
“I know you are half Fray…like me. I can sense my own kind, though you are a little different, but I bet that’s your wolf side interfering somehow,” he muses. “Do you know what being Fray is? What you are? Does Sophie know?”
“That’s more than one question there, Nath,” I awkwardly chuckle, looking over my shoulder at him and seeing no judgement. I’m a little shocked he is half Fray…but considering today is full of shocks, I’m getting used to it. I hoped one of them would know something about Fray, and asking them was part of my plan. “No, Sophie doesn’t know, and I didn’t know until recently. I don’t even know what I am. What being Fray is.”
“Fray are like fairies and they have weather magic and energy magic. That’s literally all I know. My mum won’t speak about my dad much. There are Fray who came here in the war, but they don’t speak about their past or Frayan,” he says. “They say it’s too painful as they miss their home. Earth apparently does not compare to Frayan.”
“Then maybe there is something you can help me with. Maybe you can find answers too, if you want to,” I muse, leaving the plates and nodding my head towards the door, before walking out with Nath following me. Two pairs of eyes are always better than one.
“Are you going to murder me in the attic?” Nath says as he climbs up the ladder and has to duck his head a little from the slanted ceiling because he is built like a tree. “I saw a movie where that happened once.”
“You just made me food, so you’re safe,” I joke, and he grins, before looking around the room with more interest now we are up here.
“So why are we here?” he slowly asks, and I nod my head towards the desk.
“Look at this,” I say, pointing at the book. Nath slides into the seat, and starts reading the passage, and I silently wait for him to finish.
“I didn’t know any of this. Mum once said my dad was a guard of the Winter court,” Nath whispers quietly. “It never made any sense, and she didn’t know what a Winter court was, so we never had answers.”
“My mum left me a note, telling me I was born on Frayan and that she wasn’t my mother. That my dad wasn’t my father. The note said I would find answers here…but there is a lot to go through,” I say, seeing the slightly sympathetic look Nath flashes me before I look at the boxes. “I don’t even know where to start or what to believe.”
“I’m sorry they didn’t tell you who you are before they passed away,” Nath lightly whispers, but in the silent room, it sounds louder than it should. “I bet it would have been easier to hear them tell you the truth.”
“Mum said she was blood bound to never tell me the truth,” I inform him because I don’t want anyone thinking badly of her, and a look of understanding flashes in his eyes. I don’t understand what blood bound means, but I’m sure Nath does.
“I think we should tell my friends—” he starts off.
“No. I’m trusting you because you are like me and want answers…they aren’t like us. I don’t want to risk Sophie hearing any of this, and I’m not ready to talk to anyone else,” I quickly tell him. “I don’t even know why I shared this with you, but here we are.”
“You don’t have to say anymore, Adie. This can be our secret,” Nath says, being serious for a second, and I really appreciate it.
“Thank you,” I lightly whisper back. “Don't you think it is strange how we trust each other so quickly?”
“Not really. When I first met Rick, Mich, and Josh, we trusted each other from the get go. It is the same with you, maybe some part of us deep down knows that we can trust each other,” he muses. “Either way, I'm interested to see what's inside all these boxes.”
“Me too. My mum wouldn’t have left all these boxes for me if there wasn’t something interesting in them,” I reply, and tuck a little bit of my hair behind my ear, catching a little strand of my hair in the bracelet on my wrist.
“Ouch,” I say, slowly pulling my hair out of the bracelet, somehow getting it more stuck. I look up as Nath takes over, pulling the strand out effortlessly and letting it fall as he looks down at me. There is a moment where we both just stare, speechless, and in a trance of sorts. The small contact of his hand holding my arm feels like lightning is buzzing through my skin, and I really never noticed how seductive everything is about Nath. The way his tanned skin is the perfect shade, how his hair looks silky soft and the way his green eyes are so deep that anyone could get lost while they stared into them. It’s not just his attractive body that makes him seductive, it’s everything.
“Where is this from?” Nath asks gently, rubbing a thumb over the bracelet and snapping me out of it. I look down at where his hand rests on the bracelet and at the three red crystals that almost shimmer under his touch.
“My mum said it belonged to my biological father,” I say, “and I suspect it’s from Frayan. I have no idea what it is, but I think I need to keep it on.”
“One of my powers is to control energy. It’s how I make the jewelry that makes us seem human. I also have an extremely high connection to crystals and the energy they produce. If you would let me, I could find out what kind of energy this crystal has,” he says. “Some crystals can talk and even hold messages.”
“What energies do crystals usually have?” I ask. “And how do they keep messages?”
“Protection. Healing. They can even hold element powers for attacking or defending yourself,” he explains to me. “I only need you to hold your arm out, and I can check if there is anything interesting in these crystals.”
“What’s the worst that could happen?” I reply.
“You shouldn’t say that. Every time anyone says that, something goes wrong,” he jokes, making me laugh as I hold my arm out and he steps back a little. I watch, silent, as he hovers his joined hands over the crystals. His hands start to glow, a light blue haze appearing around them, and i
t spreads down to cover the bracelet. The red crystals start to glow brightly, and I scream as shooting pain spreads up my arm, making me drop to the floor as the waves of pain continue to spread from it.
“Adie!” Nath drops to my side, pulling me onto his lap, and the pain slowly fades as I focus on the sound of his heartbeat near my ear which is pressed against his warm chest. I take deep breaths as I try not to cry from the shock, and Sophie’s head pops into the attic from the ladder.
“Are you okay?” she asks, lightly growling, and all I can do is nod.
“A box fell on her foot, but her shifter healing is fixing it. Don’t worry,” Nath tells Sophie, smoothly lying, and I’m glad he did. Sophie wouldn’t understand.
“You know how clumsy I can be,” I mutter, my voice cracking a little. “Honestly, we are good.” I manage to say much calmer.
“You are clumsy. Try not to drop something on yourself and scare me again, please,” she sarcastically says and goes back down the ladder. I realise that I’m sitting directly on Nath’s lap, and my head is rested on his chest, hearing his fast beating heart, and I swallow the nervous feeling which mixes in with how relaxed I am.
“What happened then?” Nath quietly asks, placing a finger under my chin, and lifting it so our faces are inches away and he can see me as I answer.
“Pain. It was like the time I got electrocuted by the toaster when I dropped a fork into it, but much worse,” I explain, and he looks back at the crystals. “At least say you got some kind of idea about what it is?”
“I don't have a clue. The crystal was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and it pushed away me when I tried to sense what it was,” Nath admits, flashing his eyes at the bracelet. “I almost saw the start of an image locked in there, but the crystals are so strong, they threw me out.”
“I think it's best we just leave it alone then. I don't want to do that again,” I tell him.
“Neither do I,” Nath mutters. “I am sorry I caused you any pain at all. I never knew that crystals could do that.”
“It's not your fault,” I reply, and I freeze as he presses a gentle kiss on my forehead.
“I’m not one to walk away from a puzzle. I will work out what it is, but not in a way that could hurt you. Don’t worry,” he whispers against my forehead, his warm breath is somewhat comforting.
“Why do you care?” I manage to reply, though my voice is almost silent.
“I don't think that is something even I know the answer to yet, beautiful…but I care, and I won’t be going anywhere,” he replies, and I gulp, staring at the insanely hot guy who just said he cares about me. “Now why don't we have a look around in these boxes and clean up some of these books?”
“Sounds perfect,” I say with a nervous smile up at him, before climbing off his lap and getting to work.
“That was a lot of work for pretty much nothing,” I say, glancing at all the opened boxes and the dozens of weapons littering the attic floor. Nath stands with his hands on his hips, looking around all of the different things on the other side of the room. We only found two books in all the boxes, and a lot of it was just bubble wrap. I don't know what my mum expected me to do with all these weapons, but this clearly isn’t giving me any answers.
“If anyone attacks you, you have a massive choice of weapons to use. Maybe your parents thought you might be in danger and they thought you’d need all this?” Nath asks, rubbing the back of his neck, and I swiftly look away from him before he sees the worry on my face. He could be onto something. Mum did say Frayan held death for me, that people died for me to be here and that some “she” would find me if I went back. Yet, it makes no sense. If mum wanted me to use these weapons, wouldn’t she have trained me on how to use them at some point?
“I don’t know how to use any of these things, so it is pointless. They are all made of crystals, and none of them look sharp enough to hurt anyone,” I say, pointing at a bunch of them.
“It will take me a while to work out where these crystals come from and what we should do with them,” Nath says, picking up a purple sword off the floor. The sword is made of what looks like amethyst, and it is very heavy, by the looks of it. I glance back at the dozens of daggers, arrows, knives, swords and there is even a whip, before picking the two books up off the ground and grabbing the one off the desk.
“I'm going to read all these and see if I can find anything useful in them,” I tell Nath. “Thank you for helping me unpack all of this. Even if it was pointless.”
“It's no problem. I am very interested in everything,” he says, keeping his eyes on mine, and some part of me thinks he means me instead of the things in the room. I clear my throat and go to the ladder, knowing that falling for any of these guys would be dangerous. They are on a mission and pretending to be hunters. I am not in the right place to be thinking clearly about anything. I carefully climb down, balancing the books on each step above me before getting to the bottom and picking them off. I quickly run to my room and put them on the side, before going back into the corridor and watching as Nath pushes the ladder steps back and shuts the attic door.
“Are you going to be okay sleeping on the sofa? I have spare blankets and a pillow but no spare bed,” I say. I would offer him my bed, but I’m a little selfish, and I just want to collapse into it tonight rather than the sofa.
“The sofa is perfect for me. I used to sleep in a sleeping bag in a tent for most my childhood, a sofa is a step up,” he says, chuckling at my slightly shocked face, and he nods his head towards the stairs.
“Why did you sleep in a tent?”
“I’m a half breed, and until the war, we had to hide from not just humans but supernaturals. Mum did the best she could, but we moved a lot. Stayed in camping villages a lot,” he says, and I step closer, placing my hand on his arm as I feel the urge to comfort him.
“I am sorry that was your upbringing. I mean, if you don’t mind there being pillows between us, you can sleep in my bed?” I suggest.
“Are you suggesting we sleep together, Adie? I didn’t know how much of a bad girl you are,” Nath says, reaching closer and tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear as I try not to blush. “As much as sleeping next to you is appealing, I think a date first is a good idea. So, for now, it’s the sofa.”
“Okay,” I say, squashing how disappointed I feel as I lower my hand away. Why the hell am I disappointed?
“Is that a yes then?”
“Yes, to what?” I ask, confused.
“A date of course,” Nath asks. “I’m thinking I know the perfect place to take you.”
“Okay,” I reply, trying not to stumble on my words as he smiles, looking pleased.
“Good, I look forward to it,” he winks. “As for tonight, I’m going to cook us all dinner. Are paprika burgers okay? I love them and bought you all the stuff to make them at the shops,” he asks, changing the subject, but I just about hear what he says as I’m still focused on the fact one of the hottest guys I’ve ever met just asked me out on a date.
“You made lunch, I should make dinner,” I reply.
“Let me. I love to cook. We didn’t have much food growing up, and now I can have any food I like. I love to cook different things,” he tells me.
“Then sure,” I say, smiling and biting down on my bottom lip. Nath follows the movement, his eyes locked on my lip until I let it go, and he clears his throat.
“Before I start dinner, I want you and Sophie to put the bracelets on. I think they should be done now,” he says, seeming a little dazed by something.
“Alright, where are they?” I ask.
“In the lounge,” he tells me and nods his head towards the stairs. I follow him downstairs and into the lounge where there are two boxes on the coffee table, next to the bag Nath brought with him to the house. Nath sits on the sofa, right on the edge and opens the first box. A bright red light shines out of the box, making me look away until it dies down, and when I look back, Nath is floating a red gemstone bracelet in
the air above his hand. There are six red stones, encased in a thin gold bracelet, and it looks like a normal piece of jewelry, a very stunning and expensive one.
“Come here, beautiful,” Nath says, and I walk over, sitting on the sofa next to him. I hold my hands out, and he floats the bracelet into my open hands.
“I chose right picking rubies yesterday when I made this. It will match your other bracelet.”
“You made this?”
“Yeah…it will go well with your ruby red hair,” he says, picking the bracelet up out of my hand, and I hold my wrist out for him to clip it on next to my other one. They almost complement each other.
“Thank you doesn’t seem enough for such a lovely gift,” I tell him.
“It’s nothing,” he says, picking the other box up off the table before getting up. “I made a yellow topaz one for Sophie. Yellow is a happy colour, and it might cheer her up.” Nath winks at me as I laugh, before walking out the room with the box in search for my sister. I rub my fingers over the new bracelet and smile to myself. I have a date with Nath the hottie.
The Frayan courts’ royals decided to meet every four years when the three suns and moons would meet in the sky, and this day was known as the royal equinox. The queens and kings would dance, drink and eat together to show that Frayan would always be united. This was the way for thousands of years until one of the equinoxes went horribly wrong. No one knows the reason for the fall out on that destructive night, but war was called between the courts. Tall walls were built over the next months, cutting off all the courts of Frayan from each other. Peace was lost, and the royals were locked away for their own safety in each of their courts. This caused many problems within each court, and many, many deaths.
Queen Lilyanne of the Summer court was born two hundred years after the war started, and the prophecy was written…
I pause, rubbing at the bottom of the page, but the ink is all smudged and unreadable. I sigh, closing the book and deciding it’s best I try to read more of it tonight. So far, it just seems like a fairy tale. I learnt that the courts all made different things and loved to trade all their special goods. That the Summer court is on the beaches, made of sand and waves. The Winter court is in the mountains, made of snow and harsh weather. The Spring court is in the woods, their homes made high in the trees. The Autumn court kept my attention the most. The book explains the Autumn court is ever changing, made of all weather types. The people’s homes are made in caves, inside what was described as a massive diamond crystal. The clear, shiny walls of the diamond reflect all the weather patterns and shine different lights onto the city throughout the year. I almost wish I could see that court, but I know that is impossible. I shake my head and grab my clothes, heading for the bathroom to get changed. I roughly pull my clothes on and start brushing my messy hair after pulling it out of the plait I had it in.