by Erin Danzer
Chapter Twenty Five
Once she arrived home, Ronnie went up to her room and curled up on her bed. A glance at the clock told her that school would be out soon. She sighed and rolled onto her back, wondering what she was going to do now. Gavin was gone with no way of communicating with him. Rick’s plan was set in motion, whatever his plan was. All Gavin ever said about Rick was that he only had people he controlled and that he was someone to stay away from. Of course, if he was Commander of the Spiral Defenders that meant Gavin’s opinion was of the minority in Kalearnia. She shuddered as she thought about going back there with Rick. Everyone else might trust him, but she knew she never would.
An odd beeping sound came from next to her bed and she scrambled to the side to see what it was. The beeping came from her purse and she remembered Gavin’s communication device that she forgot to give back to him. Excitedly, she reached for her purse and sat up as she pulled it out. The name Queen Alina flashed on the screen. That meant she knew Gavin had returned to Kalearnia. She put the phone down to avoid accidentally hitting a button that would answer the call. She wasn’t ready to speak to the Queen of Kalearnia. The phone finally quieted down only to start up again. This time the name flashing on the screen was Osirah. Her hands trembled as she picked it up and hit every button along the bottom, unsure of which one would answer the call. Finally, Osirah’s picture appeared on the wall.
“Oh thank the goddess,” Osirah gasped as soon as she saw Ronnie. “Where’s Gavin?”
Ronnie noticed Osirah’s eyes darting to the left and nodded. Gavin was already home, she was just doing this in case Rick was listening or watching. She shuddered at the thought.
“He—He’s already home; he should be there. Didn’t he arrive yet?” she asked.
“No.” Osirah looked appropriately worried.
“Maybe he got stopped by the Queen. Doesn’t she always know where everyone is?” Ronnie suggested. Osirah nodded.
“Yeah, maybe that’s it.” She sighed. “I’m sure he’ll arrive shortly.” Osirah’s eyes met Ronnie’s. “Are you okay?”
Ronnie nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay. Rick didn’t hurt me when he sent Gavin away.”
“Okay. I have to go. Just remember, guardian angels aren’t always seen.”
Ronnie smiled as she nodded again and said goodbye to Osirah. She put the device back into her purse and pulled out her actual cell phone. She was about to put it on her night stand when it rang. Andi’s ringtone filled the silence in her room. Tears sprang to Ronnie’s eyes as she answered the call.
“Where the hell have you been, young lady? I’ve been worried sick all day,” Andi scolded. Tears streamed down Ronnie’s cheeks as love for her best friend swelled in her chest.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Ronnie replied brokenly. “But I want to tell you.”
“Meet me at my house in twenty minutes. I have to stop at the store. Bring something to sleep in; I’m calling for a mandatory girl’s night in. I don’t care if it’s a school night; you need me.”
Ronnie agreed and ended the call. After shoving her phone into her purse, she slid off the bed to pack an overnight bag. She grabbed pajamas and a change of clothes (even though she knew she could raid Andi’s closet) and went to the bathroom to get her toiletries. Her bag was packed in five minutes. She went downstairs and was about to leave when her mom walked into the house. She groaned; the last thing she needed was another confrontation.
“Going somewhere?” her mom asked as she set the mail on the kitchen counter.
“Yeah, I’m going to stay at Andi’s tonight,” Ronnie replied.
“How can you do that if you’re grounded?”
“I’ll walk out the door and go. I shouldn’t even be grounded. Nothing happened, though no one will believe me. I know I broke your rule about no boys, but I think it would matter more if I actually did something to warrant the grounding. Sleeping doesn’t count.”
“What do you mean, sleeping doesn’t count? I don’t care what you did or didn’t do in that room. The fact remains that you had a boy in bed with you. You broke the rules and you should be punished for it. Your brother never did anything like this.”
“No, he just never got caught.” Ronnie turned and walked of out the house as her mom stared after her with her mouth hanging wide open. Maybe now her mom would see that her precious, perfect baby boy wasn’t so perfect after all.
Ronnie walked the three blocks to Andi’s house in record time and waited on the front porch for Andi to arrive. Her parents didn’t get home until a normal time, like five or six in the evening. She sat on the cold cement step and wondered what her mom was going to do now. She had never stood up to her mom before. A smile stretched across her face as she realized it felt good. Her mom needed to remember that she wasn’t Brian—she would never be like her brother.
Andi arrived a few minutes later and the girls hugged before going inside. They hugged again when they got to the kitchen. Andi and Ronnie scooped out bowls of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream before going into the den to talk. It was their favorite room, mostly because of the big screen TV. They sat on the couch and faced each other.
“Did I miss anything this afternoon?” Ronnie asked while they ate. Andi shook her head.
“No. Shawn was a real ass all day, making snide comments about you and Gavin being off somewhere.”
“Well, he was kind of right,” Ronnie admitted, her heart pounding against her ribs. She needed to talk to someone about this. Andi’s eyebrows rose as she set her ice cream aside.
“What do you mean, he was kind of right? Which part was he right about?” she asked.
“Gavin and I did go somewhere together, but before I tell you about it, I have to start from the beginning and tell you everything that’s been going on.”
Ronnie waited for Andi to say something, to ask if she had been dating Gavin all along or some such nonsense, but Andi only picked up her ice cream and began eating again while she waited for the story. Ronnie took a deep breath and began.
“As you know, I’ve been able to see ghosts ever since I got electrocuted and I think they’re after me. Well, they’ve actually attacked me a couple times, and both times Gavin was there and he protected me. The last time was after I got home from going out with Shawn Friday night. He was there, in my room, and he kind of tackled me when I freaked out. But then a wraith attacked me and he stopped it. I got hurt and he healed me. And then he did something that helped me sleep.” Ronnie paused to give Andi time to comment. Her friend’s eyes were huge, looking a little too wide for her face.
“So, what happened?” Andi prompted.
“He came over Saturday morning and told me what he could. He said he’s from a planet called Cira, from a land called Kalearnia, and he’s a Spiral Defender, someone who protects the citizens on the planets of the Spiral. He also said the shadows that were after me were called wraiths. And he said he was sent to Earth by the queen of Kalearnia on a special mission to bring me back with him. He also said the lightning strike wasn’t random; it was a show of me being chosen as a new recruit for the Spiral Defenders.”
Andi’s mouth opened and closed several times when Ronnie stopped talking, her ice cream forgotten while she waited for her friend’s reaction. Andi shook her head and set her empty bowl on the table next to her. A smile tugged at her lips as she looked at Ronnie.
“So, he’s an alien?” Andi asked grinning. “Like on Roswell?”
Ronnie giggled. “He’s not an alien. Well, I guess you would think of him that way since he’s not from Earth.” She shook her head. “No, he’s actually half human and half fairy. His mom is human and she’s pretty awesome. I also met his sister, Osirah. She has wings.”
“Wings?” Andi exclaimed. “Like a real fairy?”
Ronnie nodded. “Gavin said it’s hit or miss with hybrids, what they get from each parent. From what I can tell, Gavin’s the most human of his family and that’s probably why he was chosen to retrieve m
e from Earth. I just wish I knew what the queen wanted with me. He knows but he won’t tell me. He says he can’t.”
“Maybe she forbade him from telling you and her decree makes him choke on the words or something.” Andi paused and then grinned again. “That’s just so cool!” she exclaimed and giggled. Ronnie let out a relieved breath, happy that her friend believed her.
“Thank the goddess,” she murmured as Andi reached across the couch and pulled Ronnie into a tight hug.
“Don’t tell me you thought I wouldn’t believe you,” Andi declared. “Even though it makes you sound a little crazy, I will always believe you. So, where is Gavin now? And where did you go with him today?”
Ronnie blushed. “Well, first, I have to tell you about Saturday night. After I sent Shawn home, I went upstairs and found Gavin waiting for me again. He wanted to make sure I got home okay. It got intense, before and after his sister called. I even talked to his mom—and of course they thought something was going on and teased him about it because we were sitting on my bed together. And then he almost kissed me.”
“What do you mean, almost, like he stopped before he could?”
“More like I jumped off the bed before he could. But god, I wanted him to. I still want to.” Ronnie ran a hand over her hair, her entire body blushing from the admission.
“I still want to,” Andi agreed giggling. “So, what happened after the almost kiss?”
“I asked him to stay with me. Despite the attraction, I didn’t want to be alone in my house all night. And then my mom woke us up and grounded me for a month and to top it all off, Shawn was there when I came downstairs with Gavin. I almost think my mom called him.”
Andi shook her head. “No, he said he went over there because he hadn’t talked to you and he wanted to make sure you had been okay alone. Your mom must’ve gone upstairs to wake you when he got there and found you and Gavin together. So, seriously, nothing else happened between you two?”
Ronnie shook her head. “No; nothing. The almost kiss was the closest we’ve come except for some looks and flirting. Well, he did pour his heart out to me today, but I’m getting ahead of myself again.” She cleared her throat and set aside her now-empty bowl. “As you know, Shawn blew up, Gavin left and I was left alone with my mom’s wrath. Then this morning, I just couldn’t take it anymore. Gavin wasn’t there to offer any measure of comfort and you were busy consoling Shawn, so I left right before lunch. I went to The Reading Corner and ran into Rick.”
Andi smiled. “I bet that helped make you feel better.”
“No, Andi, Rick’s not a good guy. He’s actually the Commander of the Spiral Defenders and he says he’s here to make sure all the recruits go to Kalearnia, but I think there’s something else going on. I just don’t know what it could be.” She frowned and shook her head, momentarily distracted. “Anyway, Rick said some things and I ran out of there only to be stopped by Gavin. I’d known confronting Rick would bring Gavin out of hiding.”
“That’s why he ended up at The Reading Corner Saturday right after we saw Rick. You called him.”
“Texted him, but yeah, I did. But today, after he made sure I was all right and calmed down, he took me to Kalearnia.”
“He took you to Kalearnia? What, does he have a spaceship hidden somewhere?”
Ronnie rolled her eyes as Andi giggled. “No, actually Spiral Defenders move from planet to planet through the In Between, a dark shadowy world between our world and his. Actually, it must be between every world.” She shook her head. “Anyway, that’s how I met his sister and mom in person. Apparently they’ve heard a lot about me because they both hugged me and welcomed me and then asked why we were there. Gavin just said we needed a break, which was true. And then, right before we left, his sister made some comment about love in all forms being beautiful.”
“And that’s when Gavin poured his heart out to you.”
“It wasn’t until we got back to my room, but yeah. He pretty much said he loves me but he knows he can’t have me right now because I love Shawn.”
“But you could love him.”
Ronnie blushed again. “Yes, I think I could,” she whispered. Andi knowingly smiled.
“So, is there anything else I need to know?”
“Just that Rick banished Gavin back to Kalearnia and forbid him to have any contact with me. But I kind of have a way around that. Gavin left his communicator at my house yesterday and I forgot to give it back to him. I already had a short call from his sister. I just don’t know what we’re going to do. I don’t want to go anywhere with Rick.”
“But you’ll have to if you’re going to find out what he’s got against the Spiral Defenders.”
“I don’t even know if it’s the Spiral Defenders he’s against. He could be against the queen. But I feel like I have to find out. I have to go there and find out what’s going on, and then I have to find a way to stop him.”
“With Gavin’s help.”
“Of course. Even if Rick made up that stupid rule about no fraternizing between ranks, he can’t keep us apart if we’re just friends.”
“But he’ll find a way if he knows you two are working against him.”
Ronnie sadly nodded as Andi jumped up. She knew Andi was right. Rick would stop at nothing to keep her and Gavin apart. That was already made obvious by him banishing Gavin to another planet. She sighed as Andi moved to the television and put a disc in the DVD player.
“I’m going to make some popcorn. We need serious princess time,” Andi announced and bounded from the room. Her words reminded Ronnie of Gavin always calling her princess and she hoped she would hear him say it again someday soon.