“Your enemies won’t play fair, so neither should we.”
Victoria returned with a tray of food. There was a variety of sandwiches, packets of crisps, a bowl of fruit and some chocolate. She sat on the other side of me, putting the tray down. “My mum insisted on the fruit. Something about balancing out all the junk food.”
As we ate, I thought of Matt. I had been nervous about seeing him, but he didn’t appear to be in. Hadn’t Victoria told him what happened at the club? Surely, as my guardian, he should be here to help me train. It was obvious he didn’t care about our friendship anymore, but still, he should’ve been taking his duty as my guardian more seriously. “Victoria, where’s Matt?” I asked.
She looked down and frowned. “I have no idea where he is. He walked out yesterday with no explanation and hasn’t been back.”
“Why didn’t you say anything? Something has got to be wrong for him to act like this.”
“You had enough to worry about. My dad has gone looking for him.” Her brow creased as she played with her food. “It’s a good thing I didn’t stay at yours the other night. Mum was really upset when Matt missed Christmas.”
I bit my thumbnail. How could Matt do this to his family? It wasn’t just me he was ignoring. “Is it possible some magic is to blame?” I asked.
Victoria shrugged. “Possibly. I’ve been wondering”—she turned to Greg—“is it possible that when Matt was hit by those shadows, they infected him somehow?”
“I don’t know,” Greg said. “Shadow magic is outlawed, so I don’t know much about it. I would have to check him over to see if he was under a spell.”
If Victoria was starting to worry about Matt, something was definitely up. I had this terrible feeling something was wrong. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach but had no idea what to do.
Victoria clapped her hands. “Right, more target practice.”
And just like that, the topic of Matt was dropped. The targets were set up just like before. We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to improve my aim. By the end of the day, I was finally hitting all the targets. I was still out of Victoria’s league. She had such grace and speed. It would take me years before I was half as good as her, but at least I had made progress. I was exhausted by the time I teleported home. Greg headed straight upstairs, and I sat in the kitchen, head on the table. Every part of my body hurt. I had never done so much physical activity in one day.
The door clicked open. “Mellissa,” said my dad. “When did you get back? I didn’t hear you come in.”
I sat up. “Not been in long.”
He filled up the kettle. “Where have you and Greg been?”
“Just hanging out with Victoria.”
He frowned. “Hmm. You’ve been spending a lot of time with Victoria and not Matt.”
“Yup. No Matt, but lots of Victoria.”
My dad placed a cup of tea in front of me. I hadn’t asked for it, but it was exactly what I needed. He put his hand on my shoulder. “Is everything all right?”
I nodded. “Of course. Thanks for the tea.”
Greg walked in. “Hi, Mr. Hail.”
“Hello, Greg.” He handed him a cup of tea as well.
Greg looked down at the cup. “Thanks.”
“Well, you know where I am if you want to talk,” my dad told me. He left with his own cup of tea.
Greg sat beside me and handed me a small vial of purple liquid. “Put a drop of this in a bath, and all those aches and pains from training should go away.”
I held the bottle up to the light. It looked like a tiny bottle of shower gel. “Really?”
“Trust me. It works wonders.”
After dinner, I ran myself a bath, ready to give the bottle of purple stuff a try. I put a drop in the bath, and the water turned bright purple. I slipped into the bath and instantly felt better. This stuff really worked.
When I got out, I found a pile of books on my desk. There was a note from Greg saying to read them as we would be working on plant magic and hand-to-hand combat tomorrow. Tomorrow was going to be another long day. I picked the first book off the pile and read until I fell asleep.
The next morning was very similar to the day before. Greg woke me up. I got showered and dressed, had breakfast and teleported to the Streets’. Victoria greeted me by throwing a staff at me and attacking me. I lasted all of ten seconds before I hit the floor. Greg pulled me up. “Better than yesterday.”
Victoria snatched the staff from me. “Barely.”
“You know, maybe if you guys taught me how to fight with one of those, I would do better.”
“She has a point,” Greg said, looking at Victoria.
“First, we see how well she throws a punch,” replied Victoria. I was getting sick of these two making decisions for me.
“Why does that matter?” I asked. “I’m pretty sure fighting with my fists isn’t going to help me against a leprechaun with superhuman strength.”
“Your magic is just an extension of your body,” explained Victoria. “If you don’t know how to use both properly, you won’t be any good in a fight. In a real fight, your opponent isn’t going to stand still like the targets.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Good. Now, try to hit me.” She took a wide stance and gestured me forward.
“You want me to fight you? Can’t I fight Greg instead?”
She nodded. “Sure, go for it.”
“Really?”
A wicked grin spread across her face. “Do you really think he will be any easier to beat than me?”
Of course he wouldn’t. He had been training since he was a child, just like her. Knowing what his father was like, his training had probably been a lot stricter than hers. I really hadn’t thought this through. “No, but I think he’s less likely to kill me.”
“What sort of guardian would I be if I killed you?” she said. “Now, go on. Hit him.”
I walked over to Greg, fists clenched. He was just standing there and hadn’t uttered a word. “I can’t do it.”
“It’s all right. Just hit me,” Greg said.
“This seems wrong.”
“Is this how you plan to defend yourself against a leprechaun attack?” Greg replied.
“No, but you’re not a leprechaun.”
“Then pretend I am and try to hit me. It’s all right. You’ll probably miss.”
I gritted my teeth. He was so arrogant. I was stood right in front of him. There was no space for him to dodge an attack. I clenched my fist and swung. With the slightest of movements, he dodged the hit. I grumbled and swung at him again. I missed.
“How?” I yelled.
“You keep aiming where I am, not where I’m going.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
Victoria laughed from the sidelines. “At least she knows how to throw a punch. She just can’t land one on a moving person.”
Greg gave me some pointers, and I tried again. I threw punch after punch. No matter what technique I used, I couldn’t touch him. He told me to hit him, but then he kept moving.
“Would you please stay still?” I shouted.
“Why would I do that? An attacker isn’t going to stand around and make things easy for you.”
“Well, how else am I going to learn?” I threw another punch at him, but he dodged. I quickly followed up with another punch and made contact. I grabbed my hand back and held it close to my chest. I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out in pain. I had finally managed to land a hit but ended up hurting myself. That would teach me for lashing out in anger.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
I turned away from him, nursing my hand. “I’m just fine.”
“Come on. Let me see. I know you hurt yourself. I felt it.”
I turned and scowled at him, but I showed him my hand. He turned my hand over and played with my fingers. “Good news—you just bruised it.”
I snatched my hand back. “How is that good news?”
I knew, on average, men generally had more muscle mass than women, but I didn’t know that. I threw my arms up. “Well, I’m screwed then. I’m pretty sure a leprechaun is made of tougher stuff than you.”
Victoria walked over to us. “No, you just need to be more precise when you hit. Target weaker parts of the body, like the nose, throat, abdomen, or groin. Also, you’re small, which means you have a lower centre of gravity. Take his feet out from under him, and he will take longer to regain balance than you.”
“You could have also just poked me in the eye,” said Greg.
“Oh yeah, eyes are a good one,” Victoria said. “Anyway, you two go play with plants while I pick which weapons to train you with.”
She walked over to the rack of weapons. Greg walked over to a table full of plants. I ran my hand over the leaves of one of the plants. “You two have done a lot of talking behind my back, I see.”
“No, we haven’t. We’ve just planned the best way to help you improve your powers.” He pushed the leafy plant closer to me. “You are going to practice making plants grow.”
I cupped the plant in my hands and let out a long breath. This was all too much. There was so much to learn, and we had no idea when I might be attacked again. I could have ages to learn this stuff, but then again, I could be attacked again tonight. To make things worse, Matt still hadn’t turned up. Mrs. Street had joined her husband in searching for him, yet these two just wanted to keep pushing forward. I felt helpless. How could I help Matt, when I couldn’t even protect myself? How was I meant to learn what they’d spent their whole lives doing in a couple of days? I didn’t want to be weak anymore, but I didn’t know how to be strong.
“We will help you, Our Queen,” said a voice in my head.
“Will you?”
“Of course.”
“Then grow.”
The plants flew out of their pots, growing rapidly. Vines grabbed Greg, throwing him in the air. More vines shot across the hall, wrapping up Victoria. The plants kept growing, filling the room. They recoiled as Victoria shot ice at them. I turned in her direction, and the plants doubled in number, slamming her against the wall. Leaves cocooned her.
“Mellissa,” Greg shouted. I looked up. He was pinned to the ceiling by foliage.
I shut my eyes. “Return.” I pulled the plants back to me, and they returned to their original size.
“I don’t think she needs to practice plant magic,” said Victoria.
I had just wanted to prove I was good at something—that I wasn’t useless—but I’d almost hurt them both. “I’m sorry.” I wrapped my arms around myself and teleported.
I materialised in Novos Forest. Snowflakes glistened in the sun as they fell. I hugged myself tightly; it was freezing. The smell of pine and fresh snow filled the air. I trudged through the snow toward the river. I had no idea why I’d come here. It had been the first place that had popped into my head when I had wanted to escape. It would take Greg and Victoria longer to find me on this side of the veil.
I sat on a log, looking out at the river. It was still frozen. The ice sparkled as fresh flakes of snow landed on it. A twig snapped behind me, and I was on my feet in an instant.
“How nice of you to come to us,” said a gruff voice. “The master will be pleased he doesn’t have to use up his power to send us across the veil.” Two leprechauns emerged from the bushes.
My blood ran cold. I was such an idiot. I put myself in danger coming here alone—but I wasn’t alone.
“That’s right, Your Majesty,” said the trees. Throwing my arm up, the branches of the trees shot at the leprechauns, winding around them. They both yelled as they were pulled off the ground. I took the opportunity to get out of there and teleported home.
I crumbled to the floor of my living room. My heart was pounding. Had that really just happened?
“Mellissa.” Greg pulled me off the floor. I flopped into him. “Where were you? We were worried.”
“Is that her?” shouted Victoria. She marched into the room and wagged her finger at me. “Don’t you ever run off like that again.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so stupid. I just wanted a break, but I shouldn’t have gone there.”
“Gone where?” she asked.
“Novos Forest. Two leprechauns were there. I think they were waiting for their master so they could cross the veil.”
“What?!” they said in unison.
“How did you get away?” Victoria asked.
I slumped into the sofa. “I used the trees and teleported. I am so stupid.”
Greg sat beside me and stroked my hair. “No, you’re not. You used your powers to get away.”
“Yes, you are stupid for leaving,” said Victoria, “but your escape was smart. Try to be Smart Mellissa more often.”
I looked from Greg to Victoria. “What were you both doing here?”
“We were about to perform a tracking spell,” replied Greg.
“You can do that?”
“Yes. We needed something of yours, so we came here.”
“Right,” Victoria said. “Now that I know where you are, I’m going to head home.” She pointed at me. “Do not leave the house. The protection spells around it will keep you safe. I will talk to my mum about putting extra ones around our house for training tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I said. Victoria left, slamming the door behind her. She must be mad at me. I couldn’t blame her. I had acted rashly and put myself in danger. “Now what?” I asked.
“More reading. Your plant magic is good, but your control could be better.”
“Seriously?” I shouted. “You still want me to train?”
“You just said the leprechauns were trying to get back here again. Do you not care about your safety?”
“Of course I do, but what about my sanity? You are driving me crazy.”
“Sorry I’m trying to keep you alive,” he shouted.
“I’m just your job, Gregory. Don’t pretend you care.” I stamped up the stairs and into my room, slamming the door behind me. I threw myself on my bed. I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. I was too angry. He was so annoying. Why did he have to push me so much? I yelled into my pillow. It wasn’t Greg I was mad at. Not really. It was myself. He was just trying to help me—they both were—and I was a rubbish student.
After staring at the ceiling for what felt like forever, there was a knock on my door. “Go away, Greg,” I said.
He didn’t listen and came into the room. “Mellissa, we don’t have to do any reading. Can we just talk?”
I sat up. “What’s the point? Nothing you can say is going to change the fact that this is all hopeless. There is no amount of training that will have me ready to fight anytime soon.”
“Not true,” he said. “You managed to escape today.”
“What if they keep coming? They mentioned their master again. We have no idea what he wants, and I assume since we haven’t heard from Lady Gabrielle, she hasn’t found anything out.”
“I know it’s scary, but Victoria and I are here to help you.”
I jumped up and started pacing the room. “Why is it down to you two to keep me safe? I know Victoria is my guardian, but you don’t see Matt hanging around to protect me. This duty stuff obviously isn’t that important. And you—why do you even care what happens to me?” I stopped walking and stared out the window. “Why is Matt doing this? Everything is falling apart.”
Greg stood beside me. “Everything is not falling apart. Things just seem that way because so much is happening at once. As for Matt, I really can’t say why he is acting this way, but magic could be the reason. Once his parents find him. I can assess him for any magical damage and hopefully heal him.” His shoulders dropped. “In the meantime, I just want you to stay safe.”
“Why does my safety matter so much?”
“Because you are my friend, and I car
e what happens to you.”
“Are we friends, Greg?” Or was it just because I was the keeper of the Heart? I never asked him before because I was afraid of the answer. As much as I kept referring to Greg as just a friend, I couldn’t deny that things felt different with him. Even with everything in chaos, he made me believe it would all be okay. It would kill me if I really was just a project to him.
“Of course, we are friends,” Greg said. “What makes you think we’re not?”
“It’s just something Matt said to me a while back. He told me you’re basically a prince and any knowledge you have of me, your father will use for personal gain.” I sighed. “I mean I get it. You have a responsibility to your people. It’s just—sometimes things between us feel real but other times I worry it’s just an act. A really convincing act.”
Greg grabbed my shoulders and spun me to face him. “Melissa, you have to know that isn’t true. I would never let my father influence me in that way. Everything between us is real. I will never leave you. When you’re in danger—I don’t know—it’s like the world stops turning until I know you’re safe.”
I leant my head against his chest. His heart was beating fast.
“I know,” I whispered. Why was I so insecure all the time? He hadn’t told me anything I didn’t already know but I had let that annoying voice of doubt get to me. It had felt nice to hear it out loud and the way he struggled to put it all into words was something I could relate to. I felt safe around Greg. I clutched hold of his shirt, went up onto my tiptoes and kissed him.
Greg’s whole body went rigid. What was I doing? I went to pull away, but as I did, it was like what had happened registered with him. With one arm around my waist and the other on the back of my head, he pulled me closer and returned my kiss. His lips were soft and gentle. I wanted more. There was a burning fire of want inside me that I hadn’t noticed before. I ran my fingers along his shirt, popping the buttons. Pushing my lips harder to his, I ran my tongue along his bottom lip and moaned as he opened his mouth and our tongues intertwined. I ran my fingers through his hair, pulling him closer, not wanting there to be an inch of space between us. He tugged at my top, and I pushed him onto the bed. I climbed on top of him. He pulled me close, kissing me more fiercely, his hands wandering over my body.
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