Mrs. Braddock held up the letter. “She seems fine. She has friends. The letters mention Charlotte and Claire often. Certainly, Miss Gregory would alert me if something were amiss.”
Would she? How would such an establishment react to a girl disappearing? Surely, that would reflect poorly on their reputation.
But would they lie? Search for her on their own, hoping to return her to the school before anyone became the wiser? Perhaps they’d bide their time until they found a suitable excuse like a carriage accident or winter sickness.
“I miss her so much.” Mrs. Braddock sniffed.
“Why don’t you bring her home?” he asked.
She looked at one of the many pictures of young Noli on the parlor wall. “It’ll be best for her future to stay there, then go to Boston. I know you miss her, but … ”
It might be best for her future—their future, since unless Mr. Braddock miraculously returned, their best chance for survival was for Noli to either marry well or get a job. He knew her mother would rather remain at her shop twenty-four hours a day than allow Noli to work.
What of Noli and her dreams? He knew she still clung to her dream of going to the university and becoming a botanist.
Even if she came home tomorrow, how badly had that place damaged her?
“We’re going to work more on the house, Mrs. Braddock. The tea was lovely.” He smiled at her. “Do you like the color?”
“It is beautiful, thank you for doing this.” She smiled, lighting up her weary face. Her smile reminded him again of Noli.
“It was one of the projects she wanted to accomplish.” He hoped Noli didn’t lurk in the Otherworld with Kevighn. If she did, he had to save her before the magic bound her.
But what of his people? Certainly, he couldn’t condemn them, his family, to death to save one mortal life.
They returned outside to paint, James grumbling about the heat. He continued to ponder his ethical dilemma, trying to shake the feeling that Miss Gregory’s letters lied.
Once again, Noli worked in the garden behind Kevighn’s cabin. Right now it kept her sane. She’d lost track of how long she’d been here. Miss Gregory had probably notified her mama of her disappearance by now.
Oh, how Mama must be worrying. Noli hated to think how her disappearance hurt her mother.
So far, she hadn’t seen anything other than the cabin, garden, and Creideamh’s grove. Kevighn always went out to research alone. Whenever she asked about Los Angeles he distracted her. She noticed his ruse. It was difficult not to be distracted by the likes of him. They often spoke of airships, flying cars, and even zeppelins. His knowledge of mortal mechanics astounded her. He even knew a little of plants.
A pang of homesickness shot though her, slicing all the way to her soul. She needed go home so her mama wouldn’t think both her children had abandoned her. What if like in one of V’s tales, years passed in the mortal realm but only days in Faerie?
The trowel fell from her hand at the thought. No matter what, she had to get back to Los Angeles. As much as she enjoyed this place, and Kevighn’s company, she’d insist he either bring her home or take her to someone who could.
“How is your arm?” Kevighn walked over to where she worked. He wore his green Inverness coat, one of his shiny brass and wood bows strapped to his back. For some reason he reminded her of a huntsman from a fairytale. All he needed was a hat.
Noli’s original wariness of him had faded. It was as if she’d known him for years. She even called him by his first name and allowed him to call her Noli—most improper, but who’d know?
“My arm’s still bit stiff still, but it’s much better.” She hadn’t seen his temper since. Not that Kevighn was a pushover, or even softhearted like V.
V. If anyone could come up with a good argument for her staying in Los Angeles it would be him. Maybe he could help her find a way to check up on Charlotte. She’d always been secretly attracted to him. Lately, she’d had dreams about V that made her blush in the morning and she found herself looking forward to sleep, hoping those dreams would come.
Her and V? She chuckled to herself. That was as ludicrous as her and Kevighn. It would only happen in her dreams.
“What is so funny?” Kevighn shot her an amused look.
“I was thinking of my friend V.” What was he doing in her absence?
“Oh, he’s your friend? For some reason I thought he was your brother.” His brow furrowed and Noli detected the slightest hint of disapproval in his voice.
Jealousy? Her belly jumped a little.
“My brother is Jeffrey. He’s the aeronaut. V, Steven, is my best friend. He lives next door.” She finished planting her seedlings and stood, brushing the dirt off her hands with the apron she wore over her dress.
“Come inside. I brought you a surprise.” Kevighn smiled. It wasn’t boyish like V’s. It was alluring, tricky.
He brought such lovely surprises. But she needed to stand firm. “What did you discover today? I’d like to go home soon.”
“Come inside and I’ll tell you.” He held out a hand.
“No. Are you distracting me on purpose?” If she went inside she’d forget, or allow him to distract her, like always. If it wasn’t a trinket, it was a story. Not only had he owned an airship, but he’d once stolen a zeppelin.
“What?” Hurt flashed in his eyes. “I simply find things I think you’d enjoy—especially when I don’t have any information for you.”
His shoulders hunched and he looked so … wounded. She shouldn’t say such things after he’d been so kind to her.
“Oh … I’m sorry. I’m just frustrated. I really need to return home. I’ve been here for ages.” Of course he wouldn’t keep her here. He had no reason to.
“I know how much you want to go home.” His voice softened. “You haven’t been gone that long. I did make a little progress, though.”
“Good, I’d to return home tomorrow.”
His face fell. “I haven’t made that much progress.”
“Oh.”
“Soon.” Smiling, he tried to take her hand. “Wouldn’t you like to see your surprise?”
All the frustration, the fear, the turmoil inside her regarding this place, her mother, V, and even Kevighn himself exploded inside her, like a steam engine with no release valve.
‘“No, I don’t.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me when I’m going home—or you take me someplace where they can. Now.”
His eyes flashed yellow. “Be reasonable. I must make discreet inquiries. It takes time and I do have to say your impatience is tiresome. Now, be a good girl and come inside so I can give your surprise.”
Something about his tone, the words he chose, grated like sandpaper. “No.”
“What do you mean, no?” Puzzlement, not anger, lurked in his voice, as if unused to being told no. Actually, a man like him probably was.
“I don’t want a surprise. I don’t want to hear about more leads that don’t work out. Most of all, I don’t want to be a good girl. All I want is to go home. Now.” Her voice broke as all her pent-up frustration flowed through her.
“Stop this.” Anger leaked into his voice. “You don’t understand. Everything is complicated.”
“Why? I’m so sick and tired of being told that it’s complicated, dangerous, that you must be discreet. I haven’t seen any danger. For all I know you’re keeping me here on purpose.” Her pitch rose as anger stoked the flames of fury. “Did you even have a sister, or are they all pretty lies? How many lies have you told me, Kevighn Silver?” Turning on her heels, she began to run and didn’t stop until safe inside Creideamh’s tree house.
Fifteen
Truth and Lies
Curled in the corner of the tree house, Noli clutched the medallion from V, feeling the coolness of the stone in the center of the wire design against her palm. Little faeries danced around her, trying to soothe her. They brought her small things: feathers, acorns, and such.<
br />
The tree house was cozy, with a chair and small table. It seemed perfect for someone with an earth affinity.
According to Kevighn, the four main kingdoms in the Otherworld each possessed an element. He still hadn’t told her what kingdom they dwelled in or where his talents lay.
Several faeries approached, carrying a large pink star bloom, which they offered to her. Taking it, she inhaled its sweet fragrance and smiled. She’d planted them all around the base of the tree, making the grove smell heavenly. “I appreciate the kind thought.” She couldn’t understand the tiny beings, but they seemed to understand her.
Darkness fell, the mauve sky darkening and the two moons rising in the distance. She wasn’t sure if she should stay until Kevighn came or return to the cabin. Somehow she needed to make him understand that she must return home immediately.
She’d make him come to her. Yes. Returning would be acquiescing. Her stomach rumbled and she foraged for the berries she’d picked earlier and left in a bowl. Sighing heavily, she ate them, absently sharing bites with the little faeries.
Full dark fell upon the grove. Having no candle, the only illumination came from the wood faeries, who cast soft, colored shadows on the wood walls, and the light of the moons through the window. The rustling of branches in a breeze startled her, as did the call of some unfamiliar animal. Perhaps she should go back.
She peered out the window into the stark darkness, the thick branches now hiding the moons. In the wilds no gas lamps illuminated the night. No, she’d get lost the moment she set foot outside the tree.
Her stomach rumbled and the air chilled. She hadn’t thought to bring a blanket here.
“Noli, Noli!” Kevighn’s voice rang through the night.
Much to her chagrin, his voice caused a little tingling feeling deep inside and her anger faded. No. She couldn’t allow him to charm her.
“Noli, please tell me you’re up here?” He stood at the bottom of the tree, a lantern with blue fire in one hand, a worried expression on his face.
He’d come to her. That meant she’d won, right?
Hopefully they’d go home tomorrow. She’d tolerate no more tales.
Several little faeries swarmed him, charging. One pulled on his dark hair.
“Let me pass, please? I only wish to speak with her. Please, call them off,” he called.
“Let him up,” she told the faeries. A moment later, he appeared, setting the lantern and a basket she hadn’t noticed on the table. “What do you want?” She made her voice tart, but she hoped the basket held something to eat. No. She needed to keep her mind on the task at hand.
Brazenly, the tiny faeries poked at the basket, one going as far as to lift the cover, grinning at Kevighn daringly. The faery leaned over too far in curiosity, disappearing under the cloth. When he surfaced, he triumphantly held a berry and presented it to Noli with a mock bow.
“You can keep it, if you’d like.” She laughed. With another bow, he went to devour his prize, but other faeries tried to take it away. “None of that, I’m sure there’s more.” Without looking at Kevighn, she took the basket and set it in her lap, warding off swarming faeries as she made sure everyone got a berry.
“They like you.” Taking the basket from her, Kevighn set things out on the table. “They liked my sister as well.”
“Why would they like me? I’m not one of you.” She watched as some good-natured warfare went on among the faeries as some finished their berries faster than others.
He set some sort of confection shaped like a bird on the table. “They’re wood faeries, and this is their faery tree. Creideamh took care of their tree and them, and they loved her for it, though being wood faeries they’re naturally drawn to those with an affinity for the earth. They now see you as tree-keeper. Even if they didn’t, they’d still love you. Your kind draws them, just as faery trees draw you.”
“Mortals?” Noli tried not to eye the feast on the table—stew, rolls, fruit, more berries …
“Special mortals.” He spooned some stew into a bowl and set it on the table before her. “You’re special. That is why I keep you here, to protect you. They may not have understood you in your world, but here, those such as yourself are valued by most, but some might seek to use you for their own devices. I wish to keep you safe.”
“You value hoydens?” She wasn’t special. Special girls were pretty.
“We call it the Spark. It’s that extra something some mortals have. Often it manifests in the arts, many of the great artists—painters, dancers, musicians, poets, writers, and sculptors in your world possess it.” He made himself a bowl.
Noli scrunched her nose. The stew smelled delicious, making her mouth water, but she didn’t reach for it. “I’m not gifted in any of those. Passable, in some, but not gifted.”
He took a bite. “It manifests in other ways—philosophers, scientists, bakers, your great designers and builders. I see it in your ability to fix things and your affinity for plants.”
“My talent is gardening?” She laughed. “Painting might make me more marriageable.”
“My sister’s element was earth,” he teased, yellow eyes sparkling, “don’t mock it. I really did have a sister named Creideamh who loved to garden and paint and hid in this very tree house when scared or angry, though she came here often.”
Noli looked away. “I shouldn’t have said that. Though, I don’t regret the other things.”
“I know you’re frustrated … ”
Scrunching her nose, she thought about what he’d just told her. “—Does sewing count?”
“What?” He handed her the bowl in front of her. “Eat.”
She took the bowl, but didn’t take a bite. Yet. “Sewing. Does it count as a gift?”
He pondered that for a moment. “I should think the Spark could manifest in sewing.”
“My mama sews amazing dresses. Could she have the Spark? Maybe I inherited it from her.” Noli took a bite of stew, savoring the complexity of the textures and flavors. “I suppose. Her dresses are lovely?” Scraping the last of the stew out of the bowl, he mopped up the remainder with a roll.
“Better than anyone else.” Even better than the dresses he brought her, both his sister’s and from wherever else he got things. Where did he get things? They probably had shops in the Otherworld. “I’m frustrated.” She brought the conversation back on track between hungry bites. “Los Angeles is my home. I miss my mother. Most importantly, after Papa disappeared my brother left to make his way in the world. I can’t disappear, too. It would devastate her.”
Kevighn nodded thoughtfully, finishing his roll. “Then why did she send you to that dreadful place? Crashing a flying car isn’t that bad.”
Noli looked away. “Because I’m a disobedient, willful, hoyden.”
“Who told you that? Your mother?”
“Of course not.” Putting the empty bowl on the table, she reached for one of the firm, green fruits, with sweet, pink flesh reminding her of a cross between figs and plums.
“But she sent you there.”
She bristled. “Mama had no choice. I told you that. Unfortunately, women still don’t have the choices men do.”
“You are none of those. I told you, they don’t understand you.” Kevighn touched her face, forcing her to look at him.
“And you do?” Her belly fluttered at his touch.
“Yes.”
Their faces hovered so close she could imagine him kissing her. But the face she pictured in her mind’s eye wasn’t Kevighn’s. It was V’s.
She shook her head, trying to shake the strange feelings away.
Kevighn misunderstood her gesture, pulling her close. “You’re safe here.”
The crack of the whip reverberated through her memory, making her flinched.
“What did they do to you?” He toyed with her hair like V often did.
“They … they beat us. Starved us. Gave us terrible punishments and treatments.” For a moment she struggled to breathe, re
calling the water room.
“They did what?” He pulled her closer to him.
She rested her head on his shoulder. “That’s how they fix us, turning us into the vapid, insipid piles of mush that pass for society ladies.”
“I never did like society ladies.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Instead you consort with fancy women and steal zeppelins?”
“Perhaps.” He chuckled. Kevighn twirled a lock of her hair around his finger. “I can’t believe they hurt you. It seems like they sought to beat the Spark right out of you.”
“Did we all have the Spark?” They weren’t hysterical, willful, or moody, just Sparky?
“I didn’t see many of you, but your redheaded friend had it.”
Charlotte. The forgotten piece of fruit in her hand fell to the floor with a soft thud. How badly had her uncle hurt her? “I miss Charlotte.”
“I know you desire to return home. Who can blame a girl for wanting to be with her mother—especially if she didn’t willingly send you to such a place?” Kevighn’s voice soothed as he continued to hold her close. “I promise no one will ever beat you here. You’ll be honored and treasured beyond your wildest dreams.”
“I just want to go home. If you can’t help me, please take me to someone who can.”
Kevighn sighed. Something about his expression, his posture, seemed apprehensive. “Selfishly, I wish to keep you to myself. There is someone who has the knowledge you seek. I’m unsure if she’ll help, she can be … difficult, but I’ll take you to her if you desire.”
“I’d like that very much.” Finally, progress. By supper tomorrow, she’d be home.
Sixteen
Wanting
Steven stood in the doorway of the library, hovering, too afraid to go inside, but unwilling to leave. Quinn might have the answers he needed. He only looked young. Once, Quinn had been a noted scholar.
Quinn sat curled in a leather armchair by the unlit hearth. Finally, he looked up from his tome. “Are you going to stand there all evening?”
“Perhaps.”
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