“Susan,” said Holt. His voice was like music to my ears, and my eyes drank him in hungrily. “How long do we have?”
Susan’s face looked grim.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, forgetting that Nick and Carley were still there.
Susan bit her lips together. She looked like she was about to cry.
“Not long,” she said. “The non-Fairies should leave.”
“The WHAT? Holy guacamole,” said Carley. “She grabbed Nick’s arm in a death-hold. “Did you hear what Susan just said? Possibly the most awesomest thing in the whole wide world.”
Nick had been looking back and forth from one person to another, but he started to relax once Carley touched him.
“Let’s go,” he said suddenly, taking Carley’s hand.
Carley didn’t pull away, but she argued. “Go? Are you nuts? No way. This is awesome. Just getting good. I haven’t seen Holt in forever and I’ve missed the eye-candy. No offense, Samuel.”
If Samuel hadn’t looked so worried he probably would have smiled.
“None taken,” he said easily.
“Nick,” I said, “get her out of here.”
“We’re going to have to adjust their memories later,” Samuel muttered to me.
“Fine,” I said, “whatever, I just want them out of here now.”
I saw him nod.
Nick started to pull Carley away.
“I can’t leave Autumn,” she complained.
“Oh, sure you can,” Nick said, still tugging on her arm.
“No, stop,” said Carley, digging her heels into the ground. “I came here to hang out with Autumn and I want to hang out with Autumn. Give me one good reason why I should leave.”
Swiftly, before she knew it was happening, Nick placed his hands on either side of her face so that his thumbs brushed along her cheek bones. They were almost eye to eye and I had to smile when I heard Carley give a little gasp.
“Because of this,” Nick said huskily, and right there, in front of everyone, he leaned forward and kissed her swiftly, warningly. For a second I saw Carley try to push him away, but with her next breath her hands came around and clamped onto his back, pulling him closer.
Somewhere behind me I heard Gaudet say, “Ew.” I ignored her.
“Yay,” sighed Susan. “Awwwwwww.” She clasped her hands together and blinked rapidly. “So romantic.”
I spared a glance for Logan and Rog and was happy to see looks of disgust painted on their faces. Then my eyes found Holt.
A warmth spread through my body, and I didn’t care that I was blushing furiously.
“Hi,” he mouthed again, smiling.
I smiled back.
Finally, Nick let Carley up for air.
“Wow,” she said. Her lips were swollen and she put her hand up to them and gave Nick a goofy smile.
“Okay,” she said, “Let’s go. Now. How fast can you walk? Bye, Autumn. Let’s talk in the morning. I have a feeling we will both have awesome stories to tell.”
Never looking away from Nick, she allowed him to pull her out of the clearing. As he passed, Samuel clapped Nick on the back and Carley’s new boyfriend looked down and smiled. I watched their retreating backs. At least they were safe, and now happy. I hadn’t realized how worried it had made me to have my two best friends at odds, and now they were not only not at odds, but Carley had just gotten a kiss from Nick in front of everyone, and far from being mad about it she had giggled like a little girl and had trouble walking. Awesome.
“You have about a minute before they get here,” said Logan. “Autumn, you might want to make a run for the airport. Of course, I don’t think you’ll make it.”
I felt as if he had just punched me in the gut.
Of course. Now I understood what was happening. The Supreme Council was coming. Holt and I were supposed to stay away from each other and now they knew we hadn’t.
I wanted to cry in pain and frustration. Mrs. Cheshire was about to arrive.
Chapter Eighteen
“Autumn,” came Holt’s warm voice, “you should go.”
I stared at him. “No,” I said, “I’m staying. I’m not leaving you to face them all alone. Plus, it’s all going to be fine. They wouldn’t have freed you if they didn’t want everything to be fine.”
My words sounded hollow even to my own ears, but I had to say them. There were other solutions to what Holt had done besides killing one of us. That was a ludicrous idea, and I still didn’t think that any of the sane Fairies, meaning all the ones that weren’t named Mrs. Cheshire or Logan Roth, would stand for murder.
“Autumn,” said Susan, “we can’t protect you.”
“WHAT do I need protection from?” I demanded. “Other than him?” I pointed an accusing finger at Logan. “He’s not going to attack me in front of everyone.”
“You don’t know that,” said Susan desperately.
“Yes,” I said, “I do. He doesn’t have the guts.”
When I met Logan’s eyes I thought he might kill me. Like a bucket left too long under the hose, they were overflowing, not with water but with hatred.
“I will make you pay for that,” said Logan through gritted teeth. “If it’s the last thing I do you will pay.”
I met his gaze, but Holt interrupted. “Logan,” he said to his brother, his voice filled with a sadness I felt in my bones, “please stop.”
Logan wouldn’t look at him, but he said, “I can’t stop now. It’s too late.”
Just then, with a popping sound, the Supreme Council arrived. First came Mrs. Cheshire, a little out of breath, as if she had run there. She wore bright colors, almost looking like one of the traveling Fairies. Her mass of dark hair fell in beautiful waves over her shoulders.
Flanking her were Lydia and Leslie. To their credit, they didn’t look very happy to be there.
Right after her came Alderoy and Divoni. Both wore dark blue robes, as if they were there in some official capacity.
Mrs. Cheshire didn’t even look at me. She had bigger fish to fry.
Alderoy and Divoni moved to stand on either side of her, shifting Lydia and Leslie until they stood behind the three Court members. All hope I had of either Alderoy or Divoni offering some sanity to the proceeding was lost when Alderoy said, “Mrs. Cheshire, I do believe you have the right of it. Please continue.”
“We must wait for Mrs. Roth,” she murmured. Her eyes were locked on Holt and she looked deranged. She never even looked at her son, and Samuel made no move to talk to his mother.
“Samuel?” she said, still staring at the Summer Prince, “aren’t you going to come and stand with your mother?”
“No,” said Samuel, “I don’t think I should.”
Mrs. Cheshire seemed to expect that answer. In fact, she seemed to be waiting for it. “Very well,” she said. “There’s nothing I can do about it.”
“No,” said Samuel, “there isn’t.”
“Your grandmother tried to explain to me that you were just a headstrong young man doing what you thought was best,” she continued. She made this comment as if she was talking about baking or TV-watching choices instead of life and death.
“Maybe she’s right,” said Samuel, “but I’m going to do what’s right.”
Divoni cleared his throat. “Mr. Cheshire, you do not agree with your mother’s stance?”
Samuel shifted so that he was facing Divoni.
“No,” he said, “I do not.”
“And why is that?” asked Alderoy. I found myself eternally grateful that Nick and Carley had left before the Court arrived.
“Because we shouldn’t be told who to love or who to marry. We should spend time together, get to know one another in a lot of circumstances, and then decide if we are right for each other.”
“So, you don’t believe in love at first sight?” I found myself asking. I probably should have kept my mouth shut, but I couldn’t help it.
Samuel shook his head, smiling a little. “Not for
me. It’s fine for some people, but I want to get to know you.”
I realized that he was looking right at me. I blinked and forced myself to break his gaze, but a blush was creeping over my cheeks.
Everyone noticed what had just happened except for Alderoy, who said, “I feel as though a son should agree with his mother, but unfortunately she is a member of the Court and you are not, which means her suggestions are going to be followed.”
Before he could continue, Mrs. Roth appeared, looking unkempt and frantic.
“Logan,” she wailed, “what are you doing? I told you to leave Holt alone. Why couldn’t you just listen?” I had never seen Mrs. Roth look anything other than perfect, but now she wore no makeup and her lips trembled.
“Sorry, Mom,” Logan muttered. He actually looked contrite, but I decided it was just an act. You can’t apologize for doing something you know is wrong, and then do it again. And Logan must have known that what he was doing was wrong.
“Is it time, then?” asked Mrs. Roth, squaring her thin shoulders.
Mrs. Cheshire nodded. “I do believe it is. We have gathered all the information we need. There really isn’t anything else for us to do at this point.”
I felt like I perpetually didn’t know what anyone was talking about.
Holt came to stand with his mother. At first Rog tried to stop him, but Logan, who was different now that he was surrounded by his family, motioned Rog to let him go.
“I’m sorry, Mother,” I heard Holt say. He looked at her so tenderly I thought I might start crying. What was he doing?
She clutched his hands as her eyes darted wildly around.
“We have come to a decision,” said the Winter Queen, smiling. “We are going to read this decision out in front of the entire assembled Courts on Sunday morning. Everyone, even the semi-human, is expected to be at the Cheshire residence at nine o’clock.
Something about the time struck me as bizarrely inconsequential and random. I tried to catch Holt’s eye, but he wasn’t looking at me.
“Until then,” said Divioni, “Mr. Roth, it would be best if you stayed at your mother’s house and refrained from contacting...anyone.” Divoni had no problem glaring in my direction. Apparently, all the problems led back to me.
Mrs. Cheshire smiled. “Samuel,” she said, “come along.”
Samuel started to protest, but his mother held up her hand. Not even Samuel was going to argue with his mother in public.
“I’ll take you home,” said Susan, looking at me.
Mrs. Roth didn’t seem to care what anyone did as long as her two sons were on either side of her. That car ride home is going to be interesting, I thought, not that they were going to take a car. Fairies seemed to have fast ways of traveling, but no one had yet showed me, or explained to me, what they were. I was in no hurry to learn; I knew Holt would teach me once all this was over. Although the smile that Mrs. Cheshire had in place made me uneasy, I was still holding onto the belief that the other Court members would be reasonable in the end.
Susan wrapped one of her thin arms around my shoulders. Just as she started to lead me away, a light touch on my shoulder made me turn.
Samuel was standing there. Before I knew what he was doing he wrapped me in a fierce hug, and all the confusing attraction I had felt for him at the beginning came tumbling back. Even though I had buried it deep within my heart, his touch brought it boiling to the surface again.
“Be careful,” he murmured in my ear. He let me go as quickly as he had wrapped his arms around me. I was left reeling.
“Come on,” Susan said, trying to smile. She never looked back.
But I did. On the left were the blond boys of the Roth household, on the right the dark-haired heads of the Winter Court. Dark and light, but it wasn’t that simple, there was good and bad in both, and neither could be viewed as altogether right or altogether wrong.
This was one time when I wished the world did not exist in shades of gray.
When I got home that night my mom had already gone to bed. I was only a little surprised that Carley wasn’t in her room. I had expected that she’d still be out somewhere with Nick, since it wasn’t really that late. But I wanted to talk to her.
My nerves were pulsing as I thought about Sunday. Finally, there would be a decision and this would all be over. Then Holt and I could go on as I had always dreamed.
I hoped Carley wanted to do something fun the next day. I desperately needed the distraction from thinking about a certain Fairy meeting, and Carley, to her great credit, was an excellent distraction. Besides, I would hopefully get all the juicy details about what had happened with her and Nick. I already knew she thought he was the best kisser she had ever had. Privately, I wondered who he had practiced with.
I wanted to wait up for Carley, but by the time two o’clock rolled around my eyes were closing on their own. I tried to keep them open, which is why I heard the text message come in.
I glanced at my phone.
Holt.
If I hadn’t been so floored, if electricity hadn’t been running through every part of my body, I might have found it funny that Fairy Princes still communicated via text message. It would have seemed more fitting for them to send notes on leaves through the wind. I would have to tell Holt about that the next time we were alone.
The text was simple.
“We have to run. Be ready.”
My heart started to race.
Chapter Nineteen
I didn’t sleep that night. Not for a second. I heard Carley come home around four, but I made no move to greet her.
I was paralyzed by surprise. I had known that the situation with the Fairies was bad, at times even desperate, but something in my mind had been blocking me from seeing the truth, like a mental barrier had been placed there. Now I finally saw how stupid it had been for me to think that everything was going to be alright. But I had. I SO had.
It was Saturday morning, and I didn’t want to go downstairs too early or my mom would know something was wrong. At least I had the weekend off from work, so I didn’t really have to be coherent. Carley talked so much she wouldn’t care if I was quiet, and I was so drained that I didn’t think I’d be able to say a word.
Eventually I padded downstairs. My body felt sluggish with exhaustion and worry. The only thing I wanted to do, and the only thing that would make me feel better, was to talk to Holt. As it turned out, that was the only thing I wasn’t allowed to do.
I was surprised he had even managed to get a text message out to me. From his behavior the night before I had thought he was going along with what the Fairies wanted. Now I knew he wasn’t. Now I knew he had just been pretending.
We were going to leave. Together.
For good? Where would we go? What would we do? Would I ever see my mother again? The dull ache in my chest felt suffocating.
I wanted to call Holt and tell him he was being overly dramatic, but I didn’t think he would have decided to take this course of action if he hadn’t thought it was the only way.
“Morning,” my mom said, interrupting my channel surfing.
“Hey,” I said, giving her a tired smile.
“Honey, you look terrible,” she said, coming to the couch next to me and putting one hand against my forehead. “Are you sick?”
I gently pushed her hand away. “No,” I said, “I’m just tired. Didn’t sleep well last night.” Didn’t sleep at all.
“Well, your friend is visiting,” said my mom cheerily, “you aren’t supposed to sleep much.”
If only that had been why I had stayed awake all night. Apparently she hadn’t realized that Carley hadn’t come home until four, which was good for Carley.
“I’ll get you some cereal,” she said, disappearing into the kitchen.
I sighed. Sometimes it was awesome to have a normal mom who fed me breakfast on the couch and didn’t care if I married a boy, a girl, or a dancing bear as long as I was happy. I snorted to myself at the thought.
“Something funny?” my mom asked, coming back into the room and handing me a bowl of Rice Krispies.
“Nope,” I said. “Sugar?”
“Lots,” said my mom. “You could use the sweetening.” She pinched my nose affectionately and disappeared as I groaned into my spoon.
I sat on the couch all morning, but if anyone had told me that I had to repeat what I saw on TV and it was a life or death matter, I would have been dead. The images on the screen passed by in a blur, and although I heard sounds and saw movements, my mind was far far away.
Instead of feeling better, as the morning went on I only felt worse. Right before I literally thought I was going to throw up, Carley came bounding down the stairs.
If I looked like death warmed over she didn’t notice. She flopped down on the couch next to me, still in her sweater and comfy pants, and said, “Oh, my, I’m in LOVE with Nick.”
I smiled. It was a genuine smile, even though it hurt.
“Really?” I asked. “That’s wonderful.” Finally, she had realized.
“Yes,” she sighed happily.
“What changed your mind?”
“I saw him and just knew how much I missed him,” she said. “Besides, I think being in different places sort of took the pressure off us. Besides, the guys at my high school suck.”
I wanted to laugh hearing Carley talk about pressure, but I didn’t. Instead I spent the rest of the day chatting with my best friend and hearing all about her new boyfriend, because I knew, deep in my heart, that it was probably going to be the last such time we ever had together.
Holt came for me in the early hours of the next morning. I had sat up all night in my rocking chair, not even trying to sleep. Instead I had stared wordlessly at the night sky, a mute vigil on a seemingly innocent night.
I had packed a small suitcase, even though I wasn’t sure where we were going or for how long. All I knew was that I had to support Holt. I wanted to. I had kissed my mother on the cheek and she had asked me what was wrong. I had told her that I loved her. She clarified yet again that I wasn’t on drugs. Carley had laughed and giggled. Nick had come over and the three of us had picked up right where we left off at the end of the summer: with me losing at cards.
Autumn Page 15