PANDORA

by Rebecca Hamilton

I looked down at the white tips of my sneakers. “Thanks.”

  I heard the sound of footsteps as Liam walked into the room. We all watched quietly as he paced for a moment.

  “Liam, what is it?” I asked, unable to keep quiet for long.

  He stopped pacing and leaned against the wall. He met my eyes briefly before rubbing his hands over his face.

  “Your mother is adamant about not going home. But we don’t have the amulet yet . . . we can’t break the geis.”

  “Not going home?” I said. The rest I had already had to accept.

  “She’s panicking about going back to the way she was. I can’t even talk to her.”

  I dropped my feet to the floor and stood, not even looking in Deaghlan’s direction. “Where is she?”

  “In the gardens,” Liam said. “But Allison, once we get her home safely, I’ll figure out how to break the geis. I will. This will all be over soon.”

  Something cold trickled down my spinal cord. “To break the geis,” I said,“we need Aoife's amulet, don’t we?”

  Liam shifted. “Well, yes.”

  “And where is Aoife?” I looked over at Deaghlan.

  I hadn’t said anything about the incident with Aoife to anyone, but Deaghlan and Saoirse must have known she’d somehow escaped the fey sphere.

  “You make things so much more interesting, Allison,” Deaghlan said. He arched his brow, a slow smile spreading across his features.

  “Aoife will be dealt with,” Saoirse said from the door. “But, now it’s time for all of you to go home.”

  “I’ll talk to my mom,” I said, and I slid out the door, happy to let Saoirse and Deaghlan handle the rest of that conversation.

  ***

  My mother sat alone on a stone bench in one of the many thriving gardens. This one was filled with what smelled like herbs.

  Her head hung limp as she stared at her hands folded in her lap. She lifted her chin as she heard me approach, though, and a hint of the mother I was used to stared back into my eyes. Not the Elizabeth from the stories my grandparents told, but the despondent mother I’d known most of my life.

  I knew better than to be angry with her. None of this was her fault, I was well aware of that, but something snapped inside of me as I looked at her. Years of frustration and guilt bubbled up in my chest, bursting out in my words.

  “You can’t stay here,” I said.

  My mother nodded, looking back down at her hands. Her silence fueled my growing anger. Where was the strong, independent woman I’d heard so much about over the years? The rational part of my brain was appalled that I could feel this way, but the irrational side was much stronger at the moment.

  “Do you remember my first day of kindergarten?” I said.

  Her eyes jerked in my direction. “Yes,” she said. “I was still lucid back then. Sometimes, anyway.”

  “I didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay home with you and Gram. Do you remember what you said to me?”

  My mother pressed her lips together and for a second I didn’t think she’d answer me.

  “No, not exactly. I just remember telling you that you had to go to school.”

  “You told me that you’d be right there waiting for me when I got off the bus. That’s what got me through the day, knowing you’d still be there when I got home.

  “No matter what happens Mom, I will be with you.”

  She took a deep breath and stood, looking at me with bright green eyes. I held my hand out and together we walked back inside.

  Chapter 14

  I tapped the steering wheel in time with a love song on the radio as I pulled into my grandparents’ driveway. The song itself was upbeat, but the message was that two people in love were lost without each other.

  I shifted into park and climbed out into the oppressive mid-August heat, my thighs sticking to the seat. This was the kind of heat that kept my grandparents in the house all day, especially since Pop had started having the discomfort in his chest. I hadn’t had a choice, though—the graduate program I would be starting in the fall was holding orientation, and I couldn’t miss it. I reached across the seat to grab my backpack, the words to the song still echoing in my ears.

  The sound of Ethan’s laughter came through my open window from Nicole's pool area, causing my heart to hiccup in my chest. I stood, grabbing the top corner of the door, trying to ignore that sound I loved so much. I hadn’t seen him in the week we’d been back from TÍ r na n’Ó g as we’d both been laid up with “mono.” I’d only convinced Gram I was feeling better two days ago.

  I shut the car door and looked over at the fence surrounding the pool area. In a split second, I made a decision. I was tired of lying to myself and to everyone else. It had been a mistake to tell Ethan I didn’t want him. That much was clear after everything that happened in TÍ r na n’Ó g. I couldn’t even remember a time in my life when I didn’t want him.

  The thought of him not giving me that stomach-tightening grin every time I saw him made my chest feel like a black hole. I couldn’t be his friend, not now that I knew what it was like to be more.

  I couldn’t get to the gate fast enough. I fumbled with the latch, and it creaked as it swung open. I felt a ridiculous grin spreading on my face as I imagined telling Ethan how I really felt.

  Nicole stood on the diving board, waiting to see who was coming in. Jeff was holding himself up with his arms resting over the side of the pool, and Ethan sat with his legs in the water of the shallow end. He was still laughing at something a petite blonde said as she stood gazing up at him from the water between his legs.

  Dizziness flooded over me, as if all the air had been stolen from my lungs, and I froze as her hands moved suggestively up his thighs. When he turned my way, his smile fell, and for just a second we stared at each other.

  “Hey, guys,” I said, looking at Nicole and Jeff. “I just wanted to...let you know that I’m back from orientation.” I tried to back away but stumbled, and my elbow hit the gate in a way that jarred my entire body.

  Tears burned behind my eyes as I spun on my heel, and let the gate swing closed behind me. I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could but skidded to a halt when I saw the three familiar men standing by my SUV. Liam, Aodhan, and Deaghlan watched as I made my walk of shame back from my cousin’s house.

  “Liam?” My mind registered that they must be waiting for me. Immediately my thoughts went to my mother. She should be in the house; I hadn’t heard anything otherwise from Gram. “What’s wrong?”

  I vaguely heard the groaning of the gate opening behind me, and a voice calling out to me, but I was caught in Deaghlan’s blue stare again, and he was pulling me toward him like a tractor beam.

  “Al?”

  The trance was broken when I realized it was Ethan saying my name.

  I turned and saw him walking toward me, raking both of his hands through his damp hair.

  I couldn’t trust myself to speak, so I turned back to Liam, avoiding Deaghlan completely.

  “Hello, Allison,” Deaghlan said anyway as he sauntered over and kissed my forehead. As he pulled back, he stared hard at Ethan.

  I peered back over my shoulder to see Ethan’s eyes widen with surprise. He quickly looked over at Liam, his gaze questioning.

  “What’s going on?” I asked. “Why are you here?”

  Liam cleared his throat, looking down at the ground. When he raised his eyes up to mine, his face was ashen.

  “Aoife has escaped.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Laura Howard is an author, a mother of four, and a voracious reader. Her obsession with books began at the age of six, when she got my first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High, and other YA novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Her mom took me to the library nearly every day so she could get my fix!

  Books took a backseat to diapers when she had my first child at the age of twenty-one. It wasn’t until the release of a little saga called Twilight, eight years later, that she redis
covered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known.

  http://eepurl.com/yKniX

  Other Books by Laura:

  Stone of Destiny (The Danaan Trilogy, Book 2)

  Into You

  by

  Riley J Ford

  1

  It happens in the movie theater when I finally kiss Ethan Cooper. Her body rocks, I hear him say, except he doesn’t speak. Not out loud, anyway. At first I think it’s someone whispering behind us. Then I wonder if Miranda’s playing a joke on me until I remember she’s sitting four seats away making out with Billy Timmons.

  When Ethan’s lips touch mine again and I hear his voice—she needs a breath mint—loud and clear like a TV announcer in my brain, I yank back and stare at him. My neck prickles with fear and my heart pounds hard. What the hell is going on?

  “Did you say something?” I ask. I hope he has some kind of ventriloquist powers and I’m not losing my mind.

  “Uh, no. I was in the middle of kissing you.” He sort of laughs, his fingers stroking my neck. I pull away and look at the screen. Julia Roberts blathers on about something with her big horse teeth. My heart races uncontrollably, thumping so loudly I can almost hear my ribs rattling, and not because I’ve just kissed the boy who I’ve crushed on since June.

  No, it’s racing because something really freaky has just happened—twice—and I can’t deny it.

  “What’s wrong?” Ethan asks. I can feel him staring at me in the dark.

  “You said I need a breath mint,” I mutter. I wait for him to react. After all, it was his voice I’d heard. It just happened to be inside my head when he said it. But maybe he was playing some sort of trick on me. Maybe I’m mistaken. I sure hope so.

  Ethan is quiet for a long moment before speaking. “Uh, I didn’t realize I said it out loud.”

  “So you did say it?”

  Someone behind us shushes us.

  “I must have,” he says. “How weird.”

  “Well, thanks a lot for telling me I have bad breath. Makes a girl feel real special.”

  “Hey, don’t be pissed. I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

  As if there’s a good way to mean it. I slump down in my seat. Inside I’m actually sort of relieved. Ethan did say it out loud. Not inside my head. Maybe I’m just tired. Or whacked out on soda. All that caffeine can mess you up, especially those huge paper tankers of soda they sell at the movies. I would hate to think I have a mental problem or am crazy or something.

  Being a normal girl from Redondo Beach suits me fine, a normal girl about to enter her junior year of high school who is just enjoying her summer. I go to the beach with my best friend Miranda, talk about boys, hit the mall, eat cheese fries with ranch dressing, experiment with different kinds of make-up, and watch TV after dinner. Nothing too out-of-the-ordinary or weird has ever happened to me—unless you count the time I made a half-court throw at a RBHS game and won a hundred dollars and a wheel of Brie. See, being normal is exhausting enough. Definitely no room in my life for being psychic or reading minds!

  Ethan pokes my arm. “You okay?”

  “What’s good about bad breath?” I whisper, moving my body away from him. My face is hot, stinging with embarrassment. I shouldn’t have had those grilled onions on my burger before our date. What was I thinking? Dragon breath is not an accessory a girl should wear.

  “Dude, it’s really no big,” he says. “Just get some gum later, okay?”

  More shushing behind us, loudly.

  I sit fuming in silence, not knowing if I should get up and leave or what. But then Ethan’s arm snakes slowly around my shoulders and that tingle returns—the one I’ve gotten every time I’ve seen him at the hot dog place where he works at the mall. I’ve spent all summer going there, using every cent of my allowance on corn dogs, hot dogs, fries, mozzarella sticks, and lemonades (and gaining a friggin’ five pounds because of it), just so I could see him. I finally got up my courage to give him my phone number, and he’d grinned and said he would call. He finally did, and now here we are with Miranda and her sometimes-boyfriend sitting four seats away while I try not to breathe oily onion fumes on this hot guy with spiked blonde hair and a nice laugh.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispers in my ear. He leans in and kisses me again with those soft full lips that I’ve stared at for so long. His face this close feels nice. He’s so cute. If he doesn’t mind my breath, I shouldn’t either. Okay, Winter, chill, I tell myself. I’ll just go buy some mint gum the second we leave the theater.

  Ethan’s lips are warm and moist on mine. I relax against his body.

  What’s her problem? She’s acting so uptight. His voice reverberates through my head again. And it is definitely in my head because his mouth is still on mine!

  I didn’t mean to mention the breath, but if she’s gonna be so lame about it, I’ll ditch her after the flick and go find my bros. Who needs this shit? Chicks come into Diggety Dog a dime a dozen, and I can have any of them. There’s always another ho around the corner.

  I yank out of Ethan’s embrace, my body trembling. What is happening? His voice was in my brain, loud and clear and unmistakable. Am I losing my mind? I need to know.

  “Why would you talk to me like that?” I ask. “It’s rude.” I hope he’ll admit he was messing with me, talking out the side of his mouth or something, joking in a lame sort of way.

  “I didn’t say anything.” Ethan’s tone sounds pinched, weird.

  “Yes, you did. I heard you say you’re going to ditch me to hang out with your bros, that I’m uptight, that girls are a dime a dozen, and that there’s always another ho around the corner!” Anger seizes me. “Did you just call me a ho?”

  A voice behind us hisses loudly, “Quiet!”

  Ethan doesn’t say anything. His silhouette is stiff, like a cardboard cutout of himself.

  He jumps up. “I’m outta here!” Then he’s gone, loping up the aisle.

  As Julia Roberts cackles, hyena-like, on the screen, Miranda comes over and slides into Ethan’s empty seat. “What’s going on?” she whispers.

  I tell her I don’t know but we need to leave. The people behind us say “Good” as I stand. Miranda and Billy follow me up the aisle and into the lobby. Ethan is standing off to the side with a dark, strange look on his face. It’s obvious he doesn’t want to wait around but is forced to since I’m his ride home. The expression on his face says he would rather go to hell in Lucifer’s limo than get in a car with me. Or maybe it’s the same thing to him. He avoids looking at me, his posture rigid as he stands against the wall with his arms crossed.

  “What’s up?” Billy asks him.

  Ethan frowns. “Winter’s not normal, dude. She’s a witch or something.”

  Miranda gasps and her mouth drops open. “What a horrible thing to say!”

  Billy looks from Ethan to me and back again with a puzzled expression. I shrug and shake my head, trying to act calm despite the anxious clanging of my heart. Maybe they’ll think he’s the crazy one.

  “What happened?” Billy asks. “Did she say something rude?”

  “No. She read my mind.” Ethan glares at me with a mixture of fear and disgust.

  Billy and Miranda sort of laugh. They shift uncomfortably, clearly not knowing what to make of the situation.

  “I don’t understand,” says Miranda. She comes to stand close. We’ve known each other since we were toddlers and she always has my back.

  Ethan’s jaw juts out. “She knew what I was thinking about her bad breath and how uptight she is and how I can have any girl at Diggety Dog and would rather hang out with my bros than her.” He stares at us defiantly, his brow line furrowed.

  “Don’t forget the ‘ho’ part,” I add.

  “Man, that is not cool,” Billy says with raised eyebrows. I can tell he thinks Ethan is a jerk. I’ve known Billy for six months, ever since he started dating Miranda. Usually I can’t stand him because he’s flakey and has hurt Miranda a lot
with his wishy-washiness about their relationship, but it’s nice having him stick up for me.

  “You just don’t say something like that to a girl,” Billy says. “Not cool. What’s up with that, bro?”

  “I didn’t say it to her,” retorts Ethan. “I thought it. She read my mind. She’s a total freak!”

  Billy and Miranda look from me to Ethan. It’s obvious they’re making up their minds about who to believe, and the kook-meter definitely points to Ethan.

  “Uh, okay, dude. Whatever you say,” says Billy, stifling a snicker. “Let’s get going.” His expression says, this guy is twisted. Let’s drive his butt home fast.

  We ride in silence, the tires humming along the asphalt. Ethan sits as far away from me as he can, pressed tightly against the passenger door and staring out the window. His body is stiff and coiled, as if he wants to leap out of the car the first chance he gets. It’s almost comical. He acts like my head’s going to start spinning or I’m going to lunge at him with a machete.

  I glance at Billy and Miranda in the rear view mirror. They’re snuggled close in the back seat but look tense, their faces serious as they gaze straight ahead. I can tell they just want this Ethan guy out of the car. They must be thinking he’s a nut-job or some jacked-up woman-hater.

  When we get to Ethan’s house, he pops open the door and jumps out of the car without saying goodbye. He jogs up the driveway, goes into his house, and slams the door so hard the shutters shake.

  “Wow,” says Billy. “That was a trip.”

  Miranda meets my eyes in the mirror and her expression says it all. Creep.

  I’m bummed. Ethan definitely wasn’t the guy I thought he was. He turned out to be the lamest date in history. Not to mention that little mishap of me hearing his thoughts.

  As we drive along, I turn on the radio, hoping to calm my nerves. An eerie song croons about being bewitched by a she-devil who takes over your brain.

  Great.

  I punch off the station.

  The three of us are quiet as the car passes through dark neighborhoods with tall trees casting shadows beneath the streetlights. We don’t discuss Ethan or the oddness of the night, although I’m half-expecting Billy to grill me. Miranda and Billy must wonder how we all could have misread Ethan. He’d seemed nice and normal enough, but you can never tell about people. Sometimes they turn out to be jerks or weirdoes.