by G. Bailey
“Okay, wasn’t expecting that,” I chuckle. I’m literally a little shocked.
“There is a rumour that the actual sun and moon where named after our ancestors, but who really knows?” he shrugs like it’s no big deal. I get a sleeping princess, and he gets the freakin’ sun. Go figure.
“It shouldn’t shock me too much. You guys always did blow hot then cold with each other,” I say, thinking back to how Noah and Tobias were always arguing with each other. Tobias was the more playful one back then, but now, it seems the roles have reversed somehow. “And everyone else if I remember right.”
“Not you though. Never our sleepy girl,” he admits. “We never pushed you away.”
“You left…none of you even bothered saying goodbye to me,” I blurt out, though my voice is quiet, and I can’t meet his eyes as I keep talking. “None of you said a word, and it crushed me. It crushed Quinton as well.”
“Do you think we wanted to leave you? Fucking hell, we all fought as hard as we could to stay, Madi!” Noah snaps, and my eyes widen as all of Noah glows slightly yellow. Almost like a shimmer covers his skin, and suddenly, the room feels a lot warmer than it already was. I don’t know what expression is on my face, but Noah growls in response, picking my hand up off the water, but I pull my hand out of his grasp and stand up.
“I only wanted a goodbye. A reason. Anything other than my best friends disappearing like I meant nothing to them,” I tell him, finally meeting his eyes which are swimming with guilt. “You just left.”
“You had Quinton,” Noah retorts in anger, standing up. “We came back once…just to see you. You and Quinton looked happy enough together as you kissed in your room.” I flinch at his accusation and how he knows Quinton and I were together.
“I love him as much as I loved each one of you…but he didn’t leave me. Quinton stayed…” I snap back, my voice trailing off with more emotion than I wanted to admit to.
“Our parents are on the Masters’ council. Our grandparents were before them, and my parents had to come back because of the war. We didn’t have a choice in the decision,” he tells me, and I finally look down at him. Noah isn’t looking at me, his head bowed down, staring at the floor. “I wanted to stay.”
“I missed you,” I whisper in response, because that is what this all comes down to. I missed them all more than I ever thought I could miss someone. It seems messed up that I finally have them back in my life, only to lose Quinton because of it. I guess I never imagined a future where we would all be together, but I damn well hoped for it.
“We fucking missed you more, Sleepy. Everything went to shit the moment we left you,” he whispers, rubbing his jaw with his hand and stepping closer.
“Since when do you and Tobias fight?” I ask.
“Tobias has issues. I—no, we all—were trying to stop him from messing up again,” he explains. “The stuff he has gotten himself into will kill him or get him kicked off the island.”
“What kind of things?” I ask quietly.
“Stuff I’m not worrying you with. Not when we just got you back,” he says, stretching his arms above his head. I follow the movement with my eyes, eating up every muscle on his arms and how his golden skin is so smooth, it almost has a shine to it. I decide to leave what is going on with Tobias for now…I can ask him later. Or stalk him around the academy to find out. Someone will know, if the Tale brothers are as popular as Tavvy suggests they are.
“I did bring you here for another reason than to just skip class. I have to do a favour for some classmates,” he says, offering me a hand. I don’t pause as I slide my hand into his, enjoying how warm his hand is and letting him lead me around the fountain. We walk right to the back of the greenhouse where there is a row of plants in wooden plant pots. I look down to see all of them are growing well except for three of them. I watch as Noah lets go of my hand and walks to one of the dying plants. He places his hand just above it, and his hand glows lightly. Warmly. The plant slowly gets back its colour and grows gradually until it is bigger than the other plants, and it has little blue flowers blossoming from the edges.
“You can heal plants?” I ask him in wonder.
“Yep,” he replies with a grin. “I can heal people and myself as well, it just hurts like a bitch.” I laugh as he picks up some garden cutters off the side and cuts off one of the flowers. Noah walks over to me, and I freeze as he stops right in front of me.
“A late birthday present,” he says, stroking the flower down my cheek slowly and making my mouth part a little. I reach for the flower, and he closes his hand around mine before leaning in and gently kissing my cheek. “It’s good to have you back with us. You were always meant to be here because you’re far more special than you know…but we all knew it the moment we met you.”
Chapter 10
Noah keeps his arm around my shoulders as we walk into the dining room for lunch, and we must be late to get here, because everyone is sitting down with their food. Every pair of eyes seems to turn our way as we walk through the gap in the middle of the tables, towards the front of the room. Knox, Sin and Tobias all sit at one table, and the one next to it is where Ella is sat with her group of friends. I don't spot Tavvy anywhere in the room, not at the table we sat at from breakfast either, so I'm assuming she has skipped lunch today.
"Sit down, I will get you lunch. I still remember what you like to eat," Noah suggests when we get to the table where his brothers are sitting.
"Thanks," I say, pulling a chair out next to Sin and sitting down. Noah walks off, leaving me in the awkward silence of his brothers looking at me, but no one actually says a single word. Knox stares down at his food, eating away like I'm not here. Tobias is staring at me, completely silent which is stranger. Sin keeps parting his mouth like he wants to say something but doesn't know what. I feel that, because I don't know what to say to them. The silence just goes on until Noah brings back a tray of food and pulls the chair out next to me to sit down. I can't get over how different they all look now, so much older than I thought they would. I imagined how they would look many times, but this wasn't it. They are darker in nature, full of secrets that I wonder what it would take to make them tell me.
"Ham and cheese sandwiches, still your favourite, right?" Noah asks with a cheeky grin. "With salt and vinegar crisps, of course."
"Perfect," I say, taking my sandwich up off the plate as Noah digs into his. "Yours is a chicken club sandwich with cheese and onion crisps. Right?"
"Yep," Noah grins at me, clearly happy I remember. I remember everything about them. I could guess what Tobias, Knox and Sin are eating as well.
"How long did it take Quin to make a move after we left?" Sin asks. "Quin is a dark horse, I'll give him that."
"You really want to know that?" I ask them all, because even though Sin asked, they might as well have all asked.
"Call me curious," Sin replies.
"A while. I always loved him, I just didn't know it until then," I answer them, not missing how each of them doesn't look pleased with the answer. If I were a smart girl, or any other girl in here, I wouldn't have been so honest.
"We had a pact, you know that?" Knox informs me, but I didn't have a clue.
"No. What was the pact?" I enquire.
"That we don't touch you. None of us. Quin was part of the pact, too, because he was a brother to us. Still is, though we can't tell him about this place and our world," Noah explains to me. Quin thought the same thing about them, he always did. We had each other, and nothing else mattered. Now Quin is alone, and I'm here with the brothers.
"Quin broke that pact then," I whisper, before taking a deep bite of my sandwich.
"It means there are no rules anymore. Does that scare you, Madi?" Sin asks. His voice is teasing, but I know Sin well enough to know he isn't joking one bit. They are all silent, watching me closely for the answer, because even if Sin is the brave one to ask first, they all want to know. We were best friends, closer than I am to even my family. They are
my family, I always felt that way. Though as we grew older, it became more than anything we could have prepared for. I always wondered if that was the reason their parents took them away from me.
"No," I answer, knowing that the answer is so important to us all. Tobias pushes away from our table and walks away like he did when he saw me this morning.
"Ignore him. He will come around soon," Knox says, watching Tobias walk away.
"Why is he mad?" I ask.
"Tobias fought the most not to leave you. Our parents had to lock him up for a month when we got here, because he kept trying to leave. Give him time, because I tell you now, everything has gone to shit since we got here," Sin explains to me, and I sit in silence.
"Tavvy told me to stay away from you guys," I mutter, watching them. "That you are dangerous. Is that true? Have you changed that much that you are now dangerous?"
"She should tell everyone else that, but not you," Knox tells me, not seeming concerned at all about Tavvy's warnings.
"I hope not," I say, leaning back in my seat. I turn my gaze away from them to see everyone looking at us still, watching our every move—especially the girls, and one in particular, Ella. I might not need to worry about the brothers being dangerous, but Tavvy was right; it's the people that follow them who are dangerous.
Chapter 11
“Hey, new girl!” a voice shouts behind me just as I’m about to open the door to my room after Noah walked me back to the main corridor after dinner, a dinner at which Oisin and Knox sat with us. Tobias sat with us too, but he didn’t say much to me. It was awkward as hell, and I have to find a way to talk to them alone, I think. Noah told me we would see each other tomorrow in class before he went up to his room. I look back to see Ella walking down the corridor towards me, her arms crossed tightly, matching her tense smile.
“Ella, right?” I say, leaning against the wall and waiting to see what crap she comes out with. I’m used to girls like her by now. Most of the pretty, popular girls at school always hated me because I was close to the only hot guys for miles. Some tried being my friend to get close. Others tried flat out being a bitch to me from the start and hated that I didn’t care or listen to them. You get tough skin being friends with guys that most of the schoolgirls want to date. Though the guys did date some of them at times, it never lasted more than a week, and they never chose girls that tried to be a bitch to me or use me.
“Madi, right?” Ella mimics me, and I roll my eyes at her petty response. There isn’t much chance of us being friends at this point. “Look, there is a party this weekend, and you should come.” I almost laugh at her inviting me to a party. Seriously?
“Why the hell would you invite me?” I ask her, playing along for a moment.
“The Tale brothers have never come to a party here. Not once. If you go, so will they,” she says. I raise my eyebrows in surprise. I didn’t expect her to actually give me an honest answer rather than just lying and claiming she wants me to go as her friend. I somewhat respect her honest answer.
“Ah, I see. You’re trying to use me to get to them,” I muse. It’s been done before.
“I heard you grew up together. You can’t blame a girl for trying?” she replies, and to my surprise, I laugh. Ella hands me a white envelope about the size of my hand, and I sigh as I accept it.
“I will come—with Tavvy—but no promises the Tale brothers will follow me,” I say. “I like parties with booze though. There will be booze, right?”
“Yeah, the pixie girls are making it. Trust me, the human stuff can’t compare,” she says, and I smile at her, forgetting for a moment she is using me and not actually being my friend. Ella straightens up, losing her smile before continuing with her reason for coming here. “None of the Tale brothers have even looked at a girl since they got here, but they watch you like a hawk. Even when you don’t see it. They will come if you do.”
“Fair warning, I think you need to find someone else to crush on,” I warn her. “You are gorgeous and wasting your time.”
“Is that a threat? Are you really claiming them all as yours?” she asks me.
“I never said that,” I say, holding up my hands.
“Then until you tell me they are yours, they are fair game,” she says with a grin. “I think I might actually like you, new girl.” A brief flash of jealousy flitters through me as I watch her walk away and go into her room at the start of the corridor. I can’t be jealous of someone liking the brothers. I mean, they can do whatever they want. Whoever. Even perfect red-haired mermaid girl. I shake my head as I walk into my room and see Tavvy sat on the window edge, reading a book with a woman covered in snow on the cover.
“Good time with Noah?” she asks, sitting up and closing the book.
“Sort of,” I say, putting my bag down on the floor before going to sit on my bed. I pass her the envelope, and she accepts it, frowning down at it.
“It smells like the sea,” she states. “Let me guess, mermaid girl gave you it?”
“We are invited to a party, apparently,” I explain to her, leaving out that I kinda invited Tavvy to come with me. There is no way I am going alone. I open up the wardrobe where I put my clothes this morning and pull out my comfort hoodie, pulling it over my head and pulling up the hood.
“Ah, so she thinks being your friend will get her in the Tale brothers’ pants,” she says, laughing. “It makes sense in a messed up way, I suppose.”
“Is it bad I got jealous at the idea of them being with her? I mean, I haven’t even spoken with Tobias and Knox in three years. Noah is strange with me, and Oisin only spoke to me once at lunch,” I say. “You were there, you saw how awkward it was.”
“It’s not bad. Complicated maybe? Sure. Though the Tale brothers could have slept with most of the girls in the school by now if they wanted to, but they don’t fuck around or even seem interested. I always thought there must be a girl who stole their hearts first, and then I saw how they looked at you,” she says, and I shake my head at her.
“They don’t like me that way,” I explain to her. “I’m more like a little sister to them.”
“Totally clueless,” she says, laughing her head off as I glare at her. She tuts at me as she opens the envelope in her hands. I jump back as dozens of mini paper butterflies explode out of the envelope before flying into a key shape, moulding together until the key drops to the floor.
“Urgh, how tacky. The nymph twins must have been helping her make the invites. They specialise in making flying and glittery stuff that annoys everyone,” she says, pulling the letter out of the envelope while I go and pick up the white key.
“The key is entrance to the party. It is being held in the attic which is perfect for you to sneak off to the roof and call your human lover boy,” she says, putting the letter on top of her book and dropping it on the desk. “I’ve never been to one of their parties, but the wards make sure the teachers don’t know it is happening.”
“Well, you are going with me and keeping me from throwing something at the mermaid chick if she touches the brothers,” I say, joking. Kinda.
“You got it. I’m going to shower. If you want to come with, I can show you where the towels and hair products are. The academy keeps it stocked up for us,” she says. “Don’t worry, the showers have separate cubicles.”
“Okay, I want to go and shower, but I can’t keep what you said about the shower room being creepy out of my mind,” I say, and she sighs.
“Okay, so a girl was killed in there by a dark descendant who managed to get into the academy,” she explains, making a shiver drift over my skin when I feel a little fear. Not about the shower room, but about how a dark descendant could get in here.
“What? They can get in?” I whisper in horror, and she shakes her head.
“No, not usually anyway. Someone has to let them in. This girl was dating a dark tale and paid the price for it. She knew what she was risking, but the shower room freaks people out because that is where he killed her and escaped no
t long after,” she says.
“Why would she date a dark tale?” I ask. “Was she crazy?”
“People do crazy things when they are in love with someone. Who knows why she risked her life other than she likely loved him,” Tavvy answers. “I didn’t know her, it was before I came here, so I’m clueless.”
“Why would he kill her?” I muse. “If they were in love, it doesn’t make sense that he would hurt her.”
“They can’t help themselves, usually. I’ve never seen or heard of a dark tale walking away from one of us before. The original goddesses made us enemies that cannot help but want to kill each other. It’s almost as natural to us as breathing,” she tries to explain to me. “I saw one once, just before he was killed, and the rumours of the draw to kill them are real. It floods your mind and makes you want to end their lives. Apparently, it is worse for them than it is for us.”
“I hope I don’t run into one of them then,” I humourlessly chuckle and stand off the bed. “Though I’m not creeped out by the shower room. In most houses or places, someone has died over the years. If I were scared of somewhere that people died, I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.”
“I like you. I thought the same,” Tavvy says and walks to the door, pausing before opening it. “Because I like you, I’m telling you what my mum and dad told me before I came here. One day, you will meet an enemy who was born to kill you. Make sure you’re the one that comes out on top. Dark tales are out there, Madi, and you will meet one. So learn your powers that are your gift, and learn to fight back.”
“My mum told me not to trust anyone,” I quietly tell her.
“Seems our parents are pretty smart,” she says sadly. “I think your mum was talking about the Tale brothers. A broken heart is likely the least of your problems if you’re not careful with them.”