Shadow's Edge

by Maureen Lipinski

  “Sonia, can we take down some of those blasted wind chimes outside? They’re ringing all night long and driving me nuts.” My dad walked into the room, the newspaper folded under his arm. His face was red, his eyes were drawn and sunken.

  “But honey, I need them all in order to pay tribute to my spirit—” Mom stopped when she looked at Slade. “For my work,” she finished awkwardly.

  Yeah, probably no need to cover up any family weirdness in front of Slade.

  I started laughing and everyone turned to stare at me. “Nothing, it’s just—” I bent forward and broke down into hysterics.

  “She’s lost it,” Rhea said.

  “Who’s lost it?” Morgana walked into the kitchen wearing a long black robe with about fifty beaded, clinking necklaces. Heavy black eye shadow and purple fake eyelashes completed the Goth Girl look. “Leah, look who’s here,” she said.

  “Hey Leah,” I heard Alex say.

  The laughter escaped me immediately as my veins iced. I sat up, my mouth open.

  “I just wanted to stop by to see how you were doing since you haven’t been at school the past couple days,” Alex said, standing awkwardly in my kitchen.

  My mouth still hung open. “Erheekls,” I squeaked out.

  “Is he staying for dinner?” Rhea asked my mom,

  who shrugged.

  “Sure, I’d love to,” Alex said with ease. I could tell he thought this would show me how he was okay with my family being “weird.”

  He came over and sat down next to me while the rest of the family bustled around getting the food ready. Slade folded his arms across his chest and leaned back, watching us intently.

  “Why haven’t you called me?” Alex asked. “I’ve been really worried.”

  “Um … ” I trailed off, searching for an answer that didn’t involve realm-jumping.

  “Let’s eat!” my dad said, sitting down at the head of the table. “Alex, happy you’re here to join us!” He clapped Alex on the back and grasped his shoulder. “Going to win tomorrow?” Alex nodded confidently.

  “So Slade, where’ve you been the past few days? I tried to text you like a million times, but it kept bouncing back.” Rhea stabbed at her ravioli.

  “My phone was off,” Slade said quickly. He glanced at me before looking back to Rhea.

  Rhea’s eyes flashed in my direction. I studied my plate while I felt my face grow hot. I could practically hear Rhea’s brain clicking as she added up all the clues.

  “All better, Leah?” she spat out.

  I looked at my mom and gave her a pleading expression.

  “That’s enough everyone, let’s just eat. Morph—” Mom looked at Alex and stopped herself again.

  Yeah, it’s okay to say something in front of him, Mom. For a psychic, you’re not too quick if you don’t realize you’re eating with a shapeshifter and a guy whose dad summons demons.

  We sat in silence and chewed while I prayed I could make it through the dinner.

  “Are you cheating on me with Leah?” Rhea said to Slade.

  “RHEA!” my dad exploded, dropping his fork onto his plate.

  “No, no,” I said quickly. I turned to Alex. “I have no idea what she’s talking about.”

  His eyes narrowed and he gave me a suspicious look. “What’s going on? You’re acting really weird.”

  I wanted to say, Honey, you don’t know the half of it. Let me take you into my mom’s meditation room and you’ll uncover a whole new definition of weird. Not to mention, let’s have a little discussion about Créatúir, Fomoriians, and Four Treasures. Oh my!

  I felt Slade kick me under the table.

  “So, how’s the new football stadium going, Alex?” Slade hissed quietly, his black eyes dilating.

  “Really well. There were some freak accidents in the beginning, but thankfully those have stopped,” Alex said.

  “Huh. Weird. Why do you think so?” Slade said sharply, staring at him.

  Alex shrugged. “Just a few things we had to take care of, with the help of outside staff we hired. Everything’s fine now.”

  “Going to be a great place to play Wildcat football!” my dad chimed in, beaming at Alex.

  I looked sadly at Alex’s beautifully tanned forearms. Maybe I’m confused. Maybe he doesn’t care if my family is weird. Maybe he doesn’t know anything about his dad, the Fomoriians, or Melissa.

  Maybe …

  I rested my head against one of my hands, which held my fork.

  “Who would this ‘outside staff’ be?” Slade pressed on.

  The rest of my family was now listening keenly to the conversation. Probably since they’d never heard Slade say more than “Uh” and “Is Rhea home?”

  Alex shook his head. “Just some … people.”

  Slade nodded and speared a piece of broccoli. “Could it have been called Fomor? Or maybe it was … ” He paused and looked at Alex. “Fomoriian?”

  Alex stopped eating and met Slade’s gaze. The two of them stared at each other.

  “Pass the potatoes,” my dad said, oblivious to everything, as always.

  We ignored him and watched Slade and Alex, locked in their silent standoff.

  “The potatoes?” my dad said again. Morgana shoved the mashed potatoes in his direction.

  “I have no clue what you’re talking about, buddy. It’s my dad’s company. Not really sure what the details are.” Alex reached up and stretched his arms above his head. “I should get going. Need to rest up before the game tomorrow.”

  I nodded, and he leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. For the first time, his touch felt empty, almost hollow.

  Alex turned to Slade and gave him a long look before standing up and excusing himself.

  “What are you going to do about him?” Slade asked me.

  “I knew it! You guys are totally hooking up!” Rhea snapped, throwing her hands in the air.

  “Not even close,” I told her.

  Slade stood up and looked at me. “Figure this out,” he said, before sliding out of the room.

  I nodded and met my family’s eyes.

  I took a deep breath. “Okay, so this is going to sound pretty crazy and I’ll just give you the CliffsNotes version. But as Mom may have told you, I just came back from the Other Realm with Slade, and—”

  “WHAT?” Rhea yelled. “You hooked up with my boyfriend in make-believe land?”

  “He’s a shapeshifter, Rhea. A Dark Créatúir,” I said, my eyes wide. I refrained from telling her that he only got close to her so he could keep an eye on me. She’d probably just whine about how she never had any stalkers, human or supernatural.

  Rhea opened her mouth, then shut it quickly. “Oh. Yeah. He told me that. Of course.” She shrugged.

  Right.

  Morgana gave her a withering look before turning to me. “I can’t believe you went back there. When I heard, I nearly had a heart attack.”

  “I know, but I was desperate. Anyway, an ancient demonic force called the Fomoriians have killed two famous people there: Fiona—you remember her—and King Oran of the Dark Créatúir. Their goal is to incite a war between the Light and the Dark, and they’re hoping that if the Créatúir are really distracted, they won’t notice the demons slowly taking over the mystical realm. And the only way to stop them is to use these things called the Four Treasures, which have been lost for centuries and no one knows where they are. So I went to the Other Realm to try to find them.”

  “This is my cue to leave,” my dad said, standing up to put his plate in the sink. “I’m going to watch TV.”

  “Sorry, Dad. Anyway, this part really sucks. Melissa and Alex’s dad’s company are working together, since the Créatúir were getting in the way of the stadium

  construction.”

&
nbsp; “I knew it! I knew that Alex guy was a loser,” Rhea said. She looked off into the distance. “I didn’t think he was actually evil or anything, but I knew he was bad news. He’s always so fawkward around us.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know if he’s in on it. Since he got together with me … ” I trailed off. “It’s hard to know what to believe anymore,” I whispered.

  “So, what are you going to do?” Morgana asked. I looked down at her wrist. On the inner part, she’d written the word convergence.

  “We—” I started to say.

  “Wait, so you and Slade aren’t hooking up?” Rhea interrupted.

  “Didn’t you hear what I said, Rhea? He’s a shapeshifter. He’s not even human. No, we’re not hooking up. And it kind of grosses me out that you guys did,” I said to her.

  “Whatever. You totally made out with some weird Fomoriian guy.”

  I shook my head. “Alex is human. I think his dad summoned the Fomoriians.”

  “What can we do to help you, Leah?” my mom asked quietly.

  I exhaled loudly. “Okay, so here’s the thing. Those Four Treasures? It’s us. We are the Four Treasures. They aren’t objects. They’re us. Four sisters. Four treasures.” I looked around the table and saw my sisters looking at me with You’ve Totally Lost It and We’re Going to Commit You Immediately looks, much like Brooke’s expression at Embrace.

  I stood up. “No, really! The Four Treasures: the Stone of Fal, the Spear of Destiny, the Sword of Nuada, and Dagda’s Cauldron. They’re all just really symbols for the four elements. The Stone is earth, the Spear is fire, the Sword is air, and the Cauldron is water.” I looked around the table, but my sisters were still looking at me like I was five minutes late for my reservation in the looney bin.

  “She’s right,” my mom said quietly.

  “What?” I said, my head snapping to her.

  “You have the power of the elements on your side,” my mom said quietly. “Earth, fire, air, water. The number four.” She gestured around the table in a circular motion.

  “I don’t get it,” Morgana said, shaking her head.

  “Four sisters,” my mom said. “Earth”—she pointed to me. “Air”—she pointed to Gia. “Water”—she pointed to Morgana, who nodded. “And you, Rhea. You are fire,” she said with a little laugh.

  “Yes! Fire is the best one!” Rhea said.

  “The number four is sacred. Four elements, four seasons, four directions, four archangels, four suits of the tarot. Think about all those numerology classes: four deals with stability, power, solidarity.”

  “Exactly. And being the treasures, we need to invoke the elements to save the Other Realm.”

  “Why do we have to help her? She’s already ruined my life by telling me my boyfriend is some wolf guy,” Rhea muttered.

  “Because it’s not just about you, Rhea.” I rolled

  my eyes.

  My mom leaned forward on the table. “Use your gifts together. I knew your time to help one another in your journeys would occur; I just didn’t think it would happen so soon.”

  I nodded and looked at Morgana.

  “What do you need us to do?” she asked.

  “Tomorrow is Samhain, one of the most powerful holidays for the Créatúir. Tomorrow night, we will bring the power of the elements to the construction site and mix them together. This will break the Fomoriian magic that’s holding the Créatúir back and let the Créatúir battle them directly.”

  “Isn’t Homecoming tomorrow night?” Gia said.

  “Yeah, but that stuff isn’t important,” I said quickly, and waved my hand around. “I’ve all but given up trying to appear normal to anyone.” I thought of Brooke and smiled. “I think I’ve realized that there are people who will be there for you, even if you’re a freak.”

  “But won’t Alex suspect something if you’re not there?” Gia asked, eyes wide.

  “Oh, right.” I stopped. “Okay, you all meet me after the football game, before the dance, and we’ll go to the construction site then.”

  I stood up from the table and walked into the family room, where my dad was watching a football game on television.

  “Dad? Can I talk to you for a second?” I asked quietly.

  He broke his gaze from the game and looked at me. Then he sat up a little, his big belly resting on his legs. “Sure, sure. Have a seat.” He patted the couch next to him.

  I walked over and sat down, tucking my legs underneath myself. I looked down and played with a string on the couch.

  “I know you’ve said you’re proud of me, right?” I

  said softly.

  I saw him nod. “Of course.” He grabbed the remote control and muted the television.

  “Well, I’ve had to make some decisions the past couple of days. And some things are going to happen in the next day or so. Which might affect the football games. And I don’t think you’re going to be very proud of me afterward.” I couldn’t lift my head. My eyes began to brim with tears, overflowing as they tracked down my cheeks.

  “Leah, honey, I don’t know what’s going on. But I can’t imagine there’s anything you would do that would make me not proud of you.” He leaned over and put his large hand over mine.

  “Yeah, I know. But I know how much you love the football team … and Alex … and how important the new stadium is to you.” I wiped at the tears on my cheeks.

  He shook his head. “You girls are what’s important to me. All four of you. And your mother. Leah, nothing is more important than family. And yeah, it’s been fun for me to watch you go to Westerville and go to the football games, but there’s a lot more to life. Family, friends, jobs.” He squeezed my hand.

  I lifted my head and looked into his eyes.

  “You know that, right?” he added.

  I nodded.

  “You’re not planning on blowing up the team or anything, are you?” he asked, his eyes glinting.

  I shook my head and laughed. “No. Just going to … level the playing field with some things.”

  “A fair game,” he murmured, nodding.

  “Exactly.”

  “Well, honey, I support you in whatever you need to do. You know that I love you, Leah.” He pulled me into a hug, holding me tight.

  “I love you, Dad.” I hugged him tight.

  “You can do anything you put your mind to, Leah,” he said.

  I nodded. “I know.” I said it so confidently that it surprised me. But in that moment, in the glow of the television next to my big, burly dad, I believed it.

  I can do this.

  Twenty-Nine

  I stood in the stands, the enormous crowd cheering all

  around me. Clasping my hands behind my back, I tried to steady my breath. When I looked at Alex, who was jogging across the field, he waved and lifted his helmet in greeting. I quickly looked away.

  My arm still tingled and buzzed from where Ben had squeezed it just a moment before. He’d said, “Great costume. It’s different—like you.” Then he leaned forward, his shaggy hair nearly brushing against my cheek, and whispered in my ear, just like on the first day of school by the vending machines. “And I love that,” he said. I didn’t have time to stop him before he walked away.

  The Wildcats had just won the Homecoming game, beating Brookford Tech into submission. Now it was time to crown the Homecoming Queen. As the crowd shifted around excitedly, a chant began. “State! State! State! State!”

  Playoffs would be starting the next week, and every Wildcat fan was hoping that another state title would come home to Westerville. And they were still raving about the huge sign that had just been put up at the main gate, which showed a rendering of the new stadium and the words, Open for Next Season!

  I’d felt a pang walking past it earlier, knowing how many hop
es and dreams the new stadium held.

  But just as quickly, I’d felt a pang as I thought of Fiona and Oran, and the nothingness destroying the Créatúir.

  If only they hadn’t involved Fomoriians. If only the construction had progressed naturally. The Créatúir would’ve continued their assault in the sceach and a struggle would’ve taken place. If only. But that’s what I’m here to bring. The “if only.”

  I reminded myself that I wasn’t choosing sides, that I wasn’t siding with the Créatúir against humans. I was simply going to right a wrong. Banish the Fomoriians and take away the developer’s wild card in the struggle.

  “All right everyone, before we all head inside for the Homecoming Halloween dance, we’re going to crown your Homecoming Queen for Westerville High!” Half of the crowd cheered, a quarter rolled their eyes, and another quarter lightly booed.

  “Brooke Vaughn!” The announcer yelled. Brooke, dressed as a zombie beauty queen in a long pink ballroom gown, white sash across her chest, and tiara atop her head, shrieked as the announcer came over to place the crown on her head. Since she already had a crown on, the announcer perched the second tiara atop the first.

  Caroline, dressed in a sexy zebra-print costume as some kind of promiscuous zoo animal, clapped politely as we watched Brooke accept the bouquet of roses and wave as though she’d won Miss America. After a newspaper reporter took her picture, I trotted down the steps and waved her over to the fence.

  “I’m going to be late to the dance, remember?” I said.

  “Are you heading over there now?” Brooke said. I nodded. “Can I come?” she asked.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ve already gotten you

  too involved,” I whispered as the other cheerleaders crowded around Brooke. “Just go to the dance like nothing’s going on.”

  “What are you supposed to be?” Lindsay asked as she surveyed my costume. She was dressed as Cinderella.

  My mouth curled into a smile. “An Other Realm

  Warrior.”

  “Ew. What’s that?” She wrinkled her nose.

  Brooke and I shared a quick glance. I turned sideways, giving Lindsay a full shot of my green sparkly sword, brown dress with a rope belt, and brown suede boots.